


The Grey Agency

by Icka M Chif (mischif)



Series: The Grey Series [3]
Category: Magic Kaito
Genre: M/M, Magical Realism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2008-01-01
Updated: 2011-04-17
Packaged: 2019-04-21 20:38:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 31,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14292969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mischif/pseuds/Icka%20M%20Chif
Summary: Culture Note:House levels listed in UK order instead of American. So it's 'Ground Floor, First Floor, Second Floor' instead of 'First Floor, Second Floor, Third Floor'





	1. La Maison Rouge

+++

Kaito looked up at the building again with a mixed feeling of trepidation and what he could only describe as a sense of inevitability. 

He'd been at loose ends for a couple of weeks now, uncertain what to do with his life now that the immediate threat of a gory death was no longer hanging over their heads. He'd made it through their mad-cap chase through the States thinking he'd take up his father's other mantle, become a World Famous Magician if he survived. But now that he was here, he found that he couldn't quite find the joy he'd once had in sleight of hand tricks. 

He couldn't talk to Saguru about it, the blond had been locked up at his family's house as his father drilled him on everything that happened, then fielding phone-calls from Uncle Dorian and Uncle Klaus. Since it had already been leaked that Uncle Dorian was planning on making Saguru his heir, Uncle Dorian had decided to go ahead and make it official. 

'Guru was slated to be the next 'Viscount Gloria'. A little daunting, really. Suddenly people were crawling out of the woodwork, attempting to gain favour with the new title in town. And Saguru was having to take advice from Uncle -Dorian-. 

So when Koizumi called to ask him to look at something, he'd, well, not -quite- jumped at the chance, but had done so with a lot less suspicion than he should have.

"What do you think of Great-Aunt Rose's house?" Koizumi's voice questioned from his mobile phone. She'd called him not minutes after he'd finished looking over the building.

"I think it needs a lot of work." Kaito said, choosing his words carefully. Frankly, he was amazed that it hadn't been bulldozed by now. Usually houses were torn down and new houses built every generation or so, but this one seemed to have avoided that fate. "I'm not an expert or anything, but it didn't make any funny sounds when I walked through it so I think it still might be stable. The plumbing needs some work and the electricity is ancient."

Koizumi made a thoughtful noise like she was running through a mental checklist. "Anything else?"

Kaito sighed. "You mean besides the glowing animal in the backyard?"

"Oh! You can see him! Good." Koizumi sounded positively delighted over this. 

"Not quite." Kaito admitted. "Just out of the corner of my eye sometimes."

"That's Great-Aunt Rose's familiar, either a cat or some sort of fox, we never were able to figure it out." Koizumi sighed. "She always was more into Western Magic, which is why the house is Western style. First Western Style house built in the area, it's a bit of a landmark from what I hear. But that's probably the reason why I can't rent the place out, people keep saying it's haunted and then... well."

"Buildings fall apart when not used." Kaito finished for her. 

"Exactly." 

Kaito rubbed the bridge of his nose, where glasses would rest if he wore them. Stupid habit he'd picked up from Saguru. "Koizumi?"

"You want to know why I asked you to look the place over."

"Yes." He agreed. It wasn't a huge house, the opposite really. Squeezed in on the sides and the back by much taller buildings, it was barely three stories tall with a small tower on the roof. Toilet and bath were on the second story, kitchen was on the first story and the two rooms on the ground floor were empty. Saguru might say that it was an Edwardian or Victorian style building, it had a sense of old grace in disrepair. 

But in disrepair, it was.

"Do you think you can fix it up?" Koizumi asked, sounding hopeful. 

"I'm not a builder or a carpenter or anything like that." Kaito sighed, looking at the building. To say it was going to need a lot of work was an understatement.

"No." Koizumi agreed. "But you could be." 

The refusal was on his lips when he realised that Koizumi was correct. Kaito's... 'skill' was to become someone else. There was nothing that said this couldn't be used to create something useful instead of for subterfuge purposes. 

Koizumi took his silence as assent. "I'll pay for the supplies, I'd like to restore the house as much to the original condition as possible instead of tearing it down and building something new there. Like most of the people who are interested in the property are. In exchange for labour, you could live there rent free." 

It would be good to do something constructive with his hands while he got his head back together and figured out where he was going from here. And it would be a stable, steady location as well, not traipsing off to a new location every few days. 

A new place, away from the ghosts of his father's house and laboratory. 

"It'll take me a few weeks to learn what I need to in order to start work." Kaito warned her, looking at the house again, as a new start. Saguru would probably like the place as well, it would appeal to his old-fashion sense. The spare room at the base of the tower or one of the rooms on the ground floor could be turned into a second bedroom if Saguru wanted to move in once he got the place cleaned up a bit. 

He glanced around the neighbourhood. There was a convenience store on the corner and a couple of restaurants near by. There was also a park the next block over, a green breathing space since the house didn't have much room between it and it's neighbours, barely enough for him to walk between the walls. There was also a subway station nearby, for when he did have to travel. 

"That's fine." Koizumi said, sounding pleased. "It's not going anywhere." 

That was for sure. He saw the reddish-orange flicker of Great-Aunt Rose's familiar walking up to the front door, curling up in the stray sunbeam there. There was a patch of grass growing next to the front walk and the remains of what had probably been a small cheerful garden. Roses, he could grow roses there. 

"It will probably take a few years to fix up, you do realise." Kaito commented, feeling a sense of peace spread through him as he started plotting things out. "It's not going to be easy." Especially if the house was as old as she said it was. 

"I know." He could see her smile in his mind's eye. "But I trust it will be in good hands. La Maison Rouge deserves nothing less."

The Red House. 

Bright red roses against a dark red wall, Kaito decided. White trim for the ornate scroll work that trimmed the house, some of it missing. Flower boxes. He could see it in his head, something to strive for. Something permanent and lasting that he could create. 

"You have a deal." 

+++


	2. Thomas Wolfe

+++

"I'm home." Saguru called as he walked into the kitchen of his father's house. It was strange sometimes, after the past year of travelling, how one of the houses he had lived in most of his life did not feel like home anymore. It should have -felt- like home, but somehow all it felt was vaguely familiar. He did know where the bath towels were at least. 

Perhaps Thomas Wolfe was correct, you can't go home again. 

"Welcome home, Botchama." Baaya said, her face dourly pinched like she had just eaten a lemon. While he was glad that the relative she had been attending had gotten well enough that she could return to their service, she had not been very pleased with his sudden change in behaviour after returning from overseas. "How were classes?"

"Boring." He said succinctly as he investigated the refrigerator. He was currently enrolled in a full course load of basic classes, nothing interesting to grab his attention. Baaya gave a disapproving sniff at his language. She had trained him to talk about the goings on of the people in class, to better train his detective abilities. 

But he was not a detective anymore. 

And he really missed Kaito. 

The magician would probably have teased him about the stupid teachers and the boring lectures and then distracted him with some outrageous tale of what had happened during -his- day, some of which might have actually been true. And he could watch the sparkle in Kaito's eyes grow with every strange twist of the story, enjoying spinning the story as much as Saguru delighted in hearing it. And maybe kissed the grin on Kaito's face before settling down to finishing his work as Kaito took a nap or fussed at some magic trick before they worried about dinner.

He didn't smell right anymore. He and Kaito had been living in each other's back pockets for over half a year, and in extremely close quarters for the last part of it. It was strange to put on his own clothing, sleep in his own bed and not smell anything other than himself and soap. It didn't feel like his own skin anymore. 

But he hadn't seen Kaito in days. Closer to a week, actually. Since he had started classes at the local college instead of one of the more prestigious universities farther away from town. Father and Baaya had not been pleased about that either. 

He did appear to be letting them down a lot lately. In their eyes anyway. 

Finding nothing that struck his appetite in the refrigerator, he closed it and fixed a cup of tea instead. "Any mail for me?" He inquired.

"None." Baaya shook her head. "Maybe if you started picking up cases again. Ezomatsu-keibu has an interesting one that's stumped everyone who has come along so far-"

"No, thank you." He cut her off. "If you need anything, I'll be up in my room, working on homework." Saguru left before she could continue her tirade about his lack of enthusiasm in looking for cases to solve, like he had heard every day since his return here.

Some days, he would have welcomed confronting the Mysterious Organisation again rather than dealing with his father and housekeeper. At least the people in black would only kill you, and then it was over. 

He sighed as he made his way back up the stairs. It was also a little galling, to realise that no one was going to -ask- for his assistance, like he was now bound. Everyone just assumed that he would be all too eager and happy to solve their tangled messes, and then step back and allow them to take the credit for themselves. Like he had before he had gone undercover and then overseas for a year. 

Because no professional would think to ask a teenager for assistance. It just wasn't done. 

Although they did seem to be startled in the height he had gained. Over six feet wasn't as unusual as it once had been in Japan, but it was still uncommon. And slightly intimidating to people. Especially when they were used to thinking of him as the -little- blond boy playing dress-up in a ridiculous Sherlock Holmes mock-up. 

Saguru closed his eyes as he shut the door to his room behind him. He needed to stop thinking about this and work on his homework. He had advanced calculus to do tonight. And then he got to face dinner with Baaya, because Father wasn't letting Saguru out of their sight except for school. Joy.

He sat down at his desk and pulled out his books, papers and pens, setting them on his desk in preparation to work. 

And promptly got distracted by the sound of his window opening. Adrenaline kicked in, automatically seeking out Kaito's presence in the room to keep him safe from the intruder-

-Only to realise that Kaito -was- the intruder. "Yo." His boyfriend said, raising a hand in greeting from his seat on the window ledge, his clothing wrinkled and worn. 

Saguru remembered to breathe. "Kaito." He breathed, glancing around. That was right, they did not have to worry about people barging in on them with the intent of killing them anymore. And he and Kaito were now in different houses on opposites side of town, instead of always tripping up over each other's company. 

Kaito gave him a concerned look. "You all right 'Guru?" 

"Yeah." He gave his boyfriend a shaky smile. He could suddenly completely sympathise with Kaito's high-strung behaviour last autumn. "What are you doing here? Come on in." He scolded, standing up and walking over to give Kaito a hand. Not that the acrobatic magician needed it, of course. 

"Got myself off work early." Kaito said with a grin, untying a pair of construction boots and sliding out of them, wiggling his toes with obvious relish. "I bring sushi-?" 

Saguru's eyebrows went up. Kaito was both allergic and phobic of fish, yet he was bringing sushi? "Vegetarian." Kaito amended as he pulled a small wrapped bento out from his backpack. "Help yourself to the futomaki, I call dibs on the inari." 

"Are you sure you're not a Kitsune?" Saguru teased. Inari was made from stuffing sweet rice into fried tofu, the goddess Inari's messengers' favourite food. He got a toothy grin in return that promised nothing and everything at once. Saguru could never resist that smile. He smiled back and leaned down to kiss Kaito. His boyfriend hummed happily as he kissed Saguru back.

"... Hi." Kaito breathed as they broke apart. 

"Hullo yourself." Saguru smiled. "Fancy running into you here."

"It's the strangest thing." Kaito agreed, letting Saguru pull him upright and holding on to his hand. "Sushi?"

"Bed?" 

"Perfect." 

And people wondered why Saguru loved this man. "You smell like freshly cut wood." Saguru commented as they shifted things over to the bed. "Your new job?"

"Carpenter." Kaito nodded, sitting cross-legged on the mattress, setting the food between them. "I picked up the basics a while back, for camouflage while setting up a heist. Turns out there's a high demand for skilled people to help construct houses." 

"You've been busy." Saguru admired as Kaito grabbed a piece of inari and popped it in his mouth. 

"Eh, a little bit." Kaito shrugged in the way he did when he was already bored with his appointed task. "How's life treating you?" 

Saguru took a deep breath, preparing to tell a polite fiction and found the words pouring out instead. About how Father regarded him with suspicion now that Saguru knew about Mum's side of the family, how Kaito was now persona non grata in the house, all of Saguru's changes in behaviour being blamed on the ex-theif instead of experience and growing older. 

That he missed travelling, even though he'd been sick of it after several months and wanted nothing more than to come home. He missed their adventures and excitement and it felt stifling here. 

He was able to control his mouth enough not to mention -some- things, like the fact he wasn't sleeping well because he kept reaching out to grab Kaito and the brunette wasn't there anymore. And that Mum's side of the family wanted him to move to England permanently and be nobility while and Father wanted him to stay in Japan. Which was where Kaito lived, and he didn't know what to do.

... He did mention that he missed Kaito's company, however. As vaguely as possible. Because it wasn't like he -needed- Kaito around to function, he just was used to having him around. A lot. It was strange, not finding his clothes disappearing. 

The flow of words eventually trickled down and he realised that the two of them had managed to finish all of the futomaki and the inari. He was about to comment on it when Kaito suddenly tensed up, like a cat, eyeing the door. The ex-theif gave Saguru a slight shove off the bed before disappearing. 

Saguru quickly dashed for his desk chair, plopping down in the seat just in time to hear footsteps tread quietly towards his door. Baaya. He scribbled his name on his notebook papers, pretending to be concentrating on his homework. 

The door opened quickly, like the housekeeper was expecting to find him doing something else other than what he had said he was going to do. "Something wrong?" He inquired, raising a lofty eyebrow.

"No." She said, glancing suspiciously around the room. "Dinner is in an hour and a half." 

"Thank you." He said, carefully -not- looking around the room trying to spot where his boyfriend had hidden himself. Especially since she'd already checked the ceiling corners. "Anything else?"

She look at him from down her nose. "Why aren't you wearing your contacts? You look better without the glasses."

He shrugged in return. He didn't feel like disguising his eye-colour anymore, trying to blend in. He was who he was and he'd learned to be happy with it. Acceptance did that to a person. "Less headaches." He said simply. It was better answer than 'My boyfriend thinks I'm sexy in glasses, nyah nyah' anyway. 

Although It had taken quite a few months to get comfortable with the idea of not attempting to blend in as Hakuba Saguru. The whole 'changing identities every day or so' thing had been a definite help. So had Kaito hiding his contacts lenses several times. Hence, less headaches.

Baaya sniffed, closing the door behind her as she left. Saguru glanced around the room. No construction boots next to the window, no sushi box on the bed, no Kaito in the corners of the room and he knew there wasn't enough room under the bed. 

Then he looked again, and there was Kaito sitting in the middle of the bed like he'd never moved. "You have got to tell me how you do that one of these days." Saguru said dryly.

"It's my elite ninja skills." Kaito answered modestly, flashing him a decisively un-modest grin before holding his hand out in invitation.

"I'm sure." Saguru drawled, doing as he had been bid, walking over to the bed and sitting back down. He was mildly surprised when Kaito pounced, pushing down on to the bed and straddling his hips. Saguru grinned up at him, putting his hands on Kaito's hips. "Hi." 

"Hullo." Kaito grinned back, leaning down and covered him like a living blanket before distracting him with a slow lazy kiss. Saguru happily responded, sliding his hands down Kaito's back before sliding them back up again, slipping his hands inside Kaito's shirt, petting the bare skin at the small of the back. Kaito made a pleased sound, arching into the contact like a large cat, and Saguru lost himself in the mindless pleasure of making out with his boyfriend. 

The kisses became slower, more languorous as they relaxed, Saguru feeling a pleasant lassitude creeping on him, before he drifted off, wrapped up in Kaito.

He woke up to a sharp knock on his door, jolting him out of a comfortable sleep. "Yeah?" He called as the door opened. About an hour had gone by while he had been asleep, according to his internal time sense.

"Dinner has been ready." Baaya announced in disproval. Saguru groaned as he sat up, reaching onto the night-stand for his glasses that he didn't remember taking off. "Are you all right?" She questioned, a touch of concern colouring her tone. 

"I am fine." He said, putting on his glasses. "Merely have not been sleeping well as of late. I will be down shortly, Baaya."

"Of course." She nodded, shutting the door behind her. 

Saguru stretched, feeling better than he had for a while. He looked around for Kaito and failed to see him. He did however, find his calculus homework already done, written in Saguru's own neat hand. He did some quick mental checking of the answers and found them all to be correct. He wasn't sure if he found it amusing or not, he was the college student, not Kaito. 

He did a perfunctory glance around the room, checking for his boyfriend and half expecting Kaito to appear out of the shadows. While Kaito did not appear, he did discover that Kaito had forgotten something when he had left. Saguru walked back to the bed and picked up the over-shirt that Kaito had been wearing like a jacket when he had first arrived.

Saguru shook the shirt out, preparing to fold it when he realised that it smelled like Kaito. The magician had probably been wearing it to work in, it also carried traces of sweat, fresh cut wood and a touch of metallic grease. He smiled as he folded it neatly and stuck it under his pillow, where he could find it when he went to sleep later. He was totally pathetic. 

A quick glance at his dirty laundry basket as he went into his bathroom to wash his hands revealed that the shirt he had been wearing the day before was missing. Kaito had most likely exchanged it for the shirt he had left behind. 

Okay, so maybe he wasn't quite -that- pathetic. 

+++


	3. Funeral for a Felon

+++

It felt strange, Kaito reflected, to be carving his own headstone. 

The headstone wasn’t anything fancy, just a broken slab of white marble from the one of the sites he’d been working on, a bathroom counter had been badly broken in transit and it was too costly to ship back. The rest of the white marble was being used in the garden of the house, but he’d managed to scrounge the largest piece, an arm’s length long and half as wide. 

Headstones were traditionally carved from granite, which was harder and weathered age well, but the marble suited him fine. He wasn’t the best at carving, but the marble was relatively forgiving. Not that he’d done anything intricate. The smiling Kaitou Kid caricature at the top, with the words ‘怪盗1412 Kaitou 1412’ written below it, in both Japanese and English. Then in smaller text below that, the date of Oyaji’s first appearance as the Kaitou Kid in Paris, and the last time Oyaji had appeared before his death. He’d written the dates in nengō, with the year of the emperor, and the European Gregorian calendar as well. 

Below that, was the words ‘怪盗キッド Kaitou Kid’, once again in Japanese and English and the dual dates below that. The first night he’d taken up the cloak and met Jiichan, and the date he had met with Saguru’s Grandmother, agreeing that the Kid must die. The night that someone had crashed into the ocean, dressed as the Kaitou Kid, ending this chapter in his life for good.

Then at the bottom, a triangle with a four-leave clover in it, the charm at the end of the monocle, for luck. ‘Momento Mori’, Latin for ‘Remember you must die’ was carved in the middle. He’d debated about that for a while, almost putting ‘RIP’, ‘Requiescat In Pace’ or ‘Rest in Peace’, but deciding against it. Kid’s life hadn’t been peaceful, why should his death be? Besides, the reference to Kudo’s girlfriend had been too amusing to pass up. Next to that, a neatly carved depression, just deep enough to hold the monocle, chain and charm that was resting in it. Kaito was currently waiting for the epoxy holding the monocle in place to dry.

Thirteen years, Oyaji had run around on the rooftops, Nakamori-keibu chasing him. An eight year gap, then his few years as the Moonlight Magician. He reached forward and brushed the numbers 1412 with his fingertips. Internationally Wanted Criminal Number 1412. Nakamori-keibu used to bellow for people to call him the ‘Kid’, because it was too confusing to call him ‘1412’. Kaito privately thought it was because Nakamori-keibu was a lot more observant than he let on and didn’t want to get Kaito confused with Oyaji. 

Just under twenty-five years. Barely long enough for a normal human lifetime, but a decently long legacy, for an uncaptured criminal. 

He sighed and glanced around the secret room that was Oyaji’s lair. He’d always felt the closest to Oyaji in here, it’d never really felt like the room belonged to Kaito. It was Oyaji’s hands that had built it, Oyaji’s touch and presence everywhere he looked. Although he still didn’t know what insanity had driven Oyaji to dress in white and run along the rooftops at night in the first place. It wasn’t exactly an occupation for the sane.

It almost looked the same as it had when he’d opened the door for the first time, his own little rabbit hole to Wonderland. He’d only changed it a bit, removing a few things that were outdated and he couldn’t use, adding some modern variations on other things. Everything was clean now, free of dust and he’d removed all the stuff he used on a regular basis, and a few small things he still wasn’t done playing with. He wasn’t exactly rich and being a jewel thief was an expensive hobby, especially to one who didn’t keep their thefts.

Not that he was exactly rolling in dough now. He still had some of the money he and Hirokini had shuffled out of the Black Organisation’s coffers stashed away, but it didn’t feel like the right time to use it. It’d be cheaper for him to live here, with ‘Kaasan. She’d be ecstatic to still have him here, but after a year abroad it felt too… strange. He wasn’t the same person he’d been when he’d left and it didn’t feel right to stay. 

Koizumi’s offer of the Red House had been just what he needed. Yeah, he was scraping by on part-time jobs for the moment, but it was kind of thrilling as well. He had the time to find out who he was now that he couldn’t be… wasn’t the Kaitou Kid anymore. To discover who Kuroba Kaito was. He had a place to live, a goal and something to do with his hands while he figured things out. 

He stretched. And a boyfriend to make out with in the meantime. Poor ‘Kaasan had just about had the shock of her life walking in on them that morning after they got back. And then having to explain to her that yes, he was reasonably certain that he was serious about his relationship with the blond, if following him across the globe, jumping in front of snipers, on top of bombs, in-between swords and bullets and whatever else have you meant anything. 

She still wasn’t entirely sure what to make of their relationship, but she didn’t question him about it anymore at least.

A splashing noise distracted him from his thoughts and he quickly rose to his feet, pulling the hose out of a large basin atop the exit to the room and turning off the spray, marking off the last preparation as done. 

One last trick for the deceased.

He tossed the hose outside the room and looked around. The place was a crazy chaotic barely organised mess to the untrained eye, but to him, everything was where it needed to be, where he could find it easily. 

Everything, save for the white gravestone laying flat in the middle of the empty floor. It looked like a western grave, like there should be a coffin buried underneath it, but there was nothing save bare concrete and memories. Something to confuse whatever poor archaeologist stumbled upon it in the future. 

Kaito stared at it, his mood sombre and reflective. He may have originally picked up the cape and hat to prove his worth as a magician, but it had become so much more. First becoming the Kaitou Kid to find who killed Oyaji, then to hunt down the mythical gem Pandora that Oyaji had been killed over and destroy it. And he’d done it. … Sort of. The first two anyway.

Seven years. He had seven years to think of something. Seven years before the Pandora Gem was returned back into his hands. Hopefully.

It didn’t seem nearly long enough and yet too far away. But seven was supposed to be some sort of talisman number, which is why he’d chosen it when he’d shipped Pandora out, disguised in an ugly Tiki statue when they had left Hawai’i. 

Seven years was probably the soonest he’d see this room again, if ever. An ace in the hole, should he ever need it. He had tricks still saved up here that he’d never used, never needed to use and he hoped he’d never have to. But it never hurt. 

But in the meantime, it was time to put things to bed. 

”Rest in Peace.” He murmured, giving the room a mental farewell before turning and heading to the rotating door that was currently propped open. There were several things attached the door, strings and pipes, all set to go once the door was closed. He’d spent half a day setting up just this trick, closer to a week cleaning and making the room air-tight. 

Boxes of dry ice were hidden all over the room, strings tied to the lids of their containers attached to the door. He stepped through the door, half-closing it and moving a large cardboard box lined with plastic from the side of the doorway to directly behind the door, then poured a few bags of quick-dry cement into the box. Above the door was a large plastic container filled with water, the plug also attached to the door. 

All he had to do was close the door, which would open the boxes of dry ice into the sealed room, filling it with argon gas, which would preserve everything from both insects and hopefully most of the effects of aging, turning the workspace into a tomb for the dead. The plug would come out of the water container, falling into the box of quick-drying cement, turning it into a large rock that would keep the door from opening, even if someone undid the locks that Kaito had placed on this side. 

The only way in, after he closed the door, was to tear down the walls. And those had been long re-enforced to make such a task highly difficult.

He peered through the doorway one last time, seeing what Oyaji had left for him, the legacy of an internationally wanted criminal who dressed in the brightest whites during the darkest nights. Adored by thousands, hated by a handful, the target of criminals and law enforcement alike. A life on the edge, highlighted by moments in the spotlight and ages watching his back. A world of shadows and searchlights and stark shades of grey.

Kaito shut the door behind him and walked away. 

+++


	4. Mattresses and Magic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Culture Note: _House levels listed in UK order instead of American. So it's 'Ground Floor, First Floor, Second Floor' instead of 'First Floor, Second Floor, Third Floor'_

"Dammit..." Kaito agreed whole heartily with Saguru's bit off curse as the blond tugged on the mattress they were trying to haul up to the first floor. The mattress was taking gleeful vengeance in attempting to dissuade them by being as difficult as possible.

"I think it's stuck on something." Kaito sighed, looking at the banister that ran along the inner wall of the stairs. He debated removing the handrail, he was was going to have to eventually to strip and re-varnish the wood, but decided at this point it wasn't worth the effort. They only had a few more steps to go before wrangling it through the doorway into the living quarters. 

The re-supporting the surprisingly few weakened structural areas was done, as was the roofing, the building was as solid as it was going to get. Replacing the plumbing was next on the list, but none of that really affected the bedroom on the first floor. And Great-Aunt Rose's original huge antique bed-frame was still there just waiting to be used, it just needed a mattress. 

And once they got the mattress replaced, Kaito could partially move in, saving him from having to commute home everyday. The water wasn't on here yet, but having the option of crashing here over night was a welcome one. Especially with summer now in full force, the humid heat draining all his energy as soon as he stepped outside. Not that it was much cooler inside, but enough to make a difference. 

Saguru muttered something darkly --in German, from the guttural sound of it-- and kicked the mattress. It shifted slightly, but remained stubbornly stuck. Kaito sighed, leaning against the soft mass as he fanned himself with his hat. Time for a mini break. 

"Couldn't you teleport it up there?" Saguru asked, shoving his glasses up on his nose from where they had slid down. "Pull out a cape or something, swish, poof, it's gone?"

Kaito shot Saguru a dirty look. "Maybe when it was still on the ground floor, but not now." Magic couldn't solve all their problems. 

Saguru leaned against the mattress as well, looking slightly confused. "Why not?"

"Because I thought about it." Kaito turned sideways, draping an arm across the mattress' cooler fabric. "Now it won't work."

"... I don't get it." 

"It's like... like... catching a ball." Kaito waved a hand around and suddenly there was a soft squishy red ball in his hand. "If you concentrate on catching a ball, focus on calculating the ball's air speed, trajectory, velocity and then on which limbs you need to move to get you in the optimum place, the muscles that need to be flexed to get those limbs to the correct place, how to place your fingers so they don't get damaged, what happens?"

Saguru paused, thinking about it. There was a thoughtful expression on his face as he pondered Kaito's words, not just the picture that he had painted, but what he was trying to convey with them. Saguru didn't understand how Kaito did magic, he was a person of science. Magic took Saguru's scientific rules and turned them on its ear. And Kaito had a hard time explaining how he did it, --it was sort of like trying to describe colours to a blind person-- so discussions on Kaito's abilities were generally serious ones, the two of them fumbling around trying to make the pieces fit.

-Bit like the rest of their life, really. 

And Kaito privately liked the thoughtful look Saguru got when they were talking by themselves. The blond's lower lip jutted out just slightly when he concentrated, almost a pout. One of these days he was going to distract the detective by nibbling on it or something. 

But not while there was half a flight of stairs and a mattress between them. 

"You overcompensate." Saguru finally concluded. "Caught up in the little details. And you don't catch the ball."

"And if you don't think about out? Catch." Kaito tossed the ball at Saguru. Without thinking, the blond reached a hand up and open, the ball smacking into his palm.

"You react instinctively." Saguru stated, smiling slightly. "Bypass the conscious level. And catch the ball." 

"You got it." Kaito grinned back. "If I tried to now, now that I've consciously thought about it, we'd probably get one of two responses. One, nothing would happen. Two, the mattress -would- disappear, but-"

"-It wouldn't go where you wanted it to go." Saguru nodded, his eyes distant as he pondered the possibilities. "It'd end up on the roof-"

"-Or another country or dimension or something." Kaito grinned. "Accidentally squishing someone with a mattress falling from the sky would probably play havoc with my karmic debt." 

The blond chuckled in return. It was a fairly funny mental picture. A little super-deformed character with huge panicked eyes looking up at the sky, arms flapping as a mattress appeared out of no where and flattened them. 

Kaito patted the mattress. "Maybe if it'd struck me while we were on the ground floor that it needed to be 'moved' upstairs and I'd done it without thinking then, it would have worked. But even then with something this size, I'd probably need a nap after." 

"The energy to displace that much mass has to come from somewhere after all." Saguru agreed. The physics law of the conversation of energy remained stable at least. Although Kaito still was uncertain -where- the energy came from, it was from himself or if he was a channel for the energy, drawing it from the environment around them, like Saguru once suggested. 

"But still." Saguru sighed, leaning against the mattress. "It would have been easier."

"Tell ya what." Kaito smirked back. "As soon as we get this thing on the bed, I'll use the energy I didn't use teleporting it to tie you down and screw -you- through the mattress."

He'd meant it as a joke. Just something to distract Saguru from the heavy lifting and moving they were doing. But the dark-eyed look he got in return made his mouth go dry from pure lust.

Kaito had to force himself to swallow a few times, to get the moisture back in his mouth again as he gaped. "Saguru?"

Saguru turned faintly pink as he turned his head slightly, looking at the wall instead of Kaito. "It is -not- that I enjoy getting caught and tied up and playing the blond damsel in distress." The blond finally muttered. He was still embarrassed about getting grabbed as Kaitou-bait on their trip. "But sometimes I do not want to be the one in control of everything." 

Between Saguru's father's sudden insistence on knowing every aspect of Saguru's life, who he was associating with and why, the pressure of being shoved into the higher societies' --and thus to some extent, the gossip rags-- limelight as a potential new Viscount and random people tracking him down to tell him sob stories in an effort to gain attention or money, Saguru was under quite a bit of stress at the moment. 

Which was why Saguru was spending as much time as possible here lately, despite the fact that there really wasn't much else for him to do other than keep Kaito company and occasionally move heavy stuff. Saguru wasn't hiding precisely, it was more a matter of taking the opportunity to regroup his wits before the next barrage.

"Okay." Kaito said, finally getting his brain out of his pants long enough to think this out. He still had some silk scarves on him that he could tie loops into the ends of, tie the other end the bed-frame. The frame certainly was sturdy enough to withstand some pressure on it. And if Kaito made the loops big enough, they would still hold Saguru, but the blond would be able to slip his hands free if he wanted or needed to. 

Sometimes the illusion of something was preferable over the reality. Much safer in this case, anyway.

Saguru blinked owlishly at him, as if he wasn't quite sure if he'd heard Kaito correctly, his cheeks still faintly pink from embarrassment. "Okay?" He echoed hesitantly.

Kaito thought about Saguru, all that golden skin spread out on the bed, just begging to be caressed, petted and tasted. To see what kind of sounds he could get Saguru would make, discover what new sweet spots would drive the blond crazy. 

Kaito shrugged in return. "Okay." He didn't have a problem with it if Saguru didn't. They hadn't quite gotten that far in their physical relationship yet, but he wasn't adverse to the idea. Hell, he'd be happy if all they did was roll around on the bed and neck a bit without clothes once they got upstairs, just as long as he got to spend some quality time with his boyfriend. 

Not that just hanging out and moving furniture wasn't quality time, but there were was 'quality time' and 'Quality Time'. 

Saguru grinned in return, a low predatory smile that warmed Kaito's belly and made it do somersaults. In a very good way. Oh, yeah. 

"Come on." Saguru pulled on the mattress with a lot more enthusiasm than he had a few minutes ago. "What are you waiting for? Let's get this upstairs!" 

+++


	5. Down the Rabbit Hole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked._  
>  "Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."  
> "How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.  
> "You must be," said the Cat, "otherwise you wouldn't have come here."  
> -Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll

"'Guru?" Kaito tentatively knocked on the door to what they were calling the library. Three and a half of the four walls were covered in giant polished wood bookshelves, Great Aunt Rose having been a rather eccentric book collector among other things. It lent the room an air of sophistication, which was probably why it was the former detective's favourite place to hide out.

Saguru made a vague 'enter' sound, so Kaito did, glancing at the pile of books stacked up on the table next to the sheet covered armchair. Psychology on the bottom of the stacks, mostly Freud and Jung, followed by Philosophy, starting at Aristotle and working it's way up through time and geography. At the very top rested a few slim books of Fairy Tales. In Saguru's hands was a thick tome of the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales.

Kaito felt a stab of worry as he perused the subjects. Something heavy on Saguru's mind then. "'Guru?"

Saguru's head jerked up, like he hadn't been aware of Kaito's entering. "Ah, Kaito." He blinked, slipping a piece of paper into the book where he had been reading before rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Apologies." 

Kaito shook his head, walking closer. "Something up?"

"Just... an odd day. I did discover something new about the house however." Saguru gave him a slight mischievous smile. "Put your hand on the bookshelves." He instructed.

Kaito did so. As far as he knew, the shelves had once been organised according to subject, then author. Apparently one, or several, of the former temporary tenants had attempted to borrow books and put them away again, causing mass chaos and confusion. Saguru had taken on organising the book collection as a personal task. 

"Now walk." Saguru instructed. "Look for a subject." 

He did as instructed, fingers trailing along smooth wood as he passed by the shelves of books of all shapes, colours, sizes and descriptions. He walked, passing by hundreds of books, maybe more, the scope of the titles making his head hurt. "Stop." Saguru instructed. "See how far you've gotten."

He should have walked at least twice the length of the room, but when he looked around he had barely moved more than a shelf-length. "... That's a lot of books." He mused.

Saguru nodded, the sly smile never leaving his lips. At least this surprise about the house appeared to be a positive one. The blond held a hand out, silently requesting his company. Kaito smiled back, walking over and taking Saguru's hand, their fingers twining together. Saguru tugged Kaito down into his lap and for a moment Kaito protested. Okay, so he was smaller than Saguru, but that didn't mean he needed to be coddled. Then saw the slight tension in Saguru's eyes and acquiesced, leaning against the blond's warm chest as he sat sideways in his lap. It wasn't so bad like this, he mused as Saguru wrapped his arms around Kaito. Comfortable. 

Saguru obviously needed the reassurance at the moment, and the chair wasn't big enough for them to both sit side by side in it. "So how was your day?" Kaito asked as Saguru pressed his face against Kaito's neck. Kaito shivered slightly, in a good way, but unfortunately Saguru didn't take advantage of the proximity. 

"A little girl asked me to help her find her cat when I left the house this morning." Saguru stated, his voice overly bland in the way he usually got when things were too far out of his comfort zone and he was trying to adapt the best he could. "It was a large tabby cat, reclining on a tree limb and smiling down at us. The little girl, Alice, politely thanked me for helping her as the cat climbed out of the tree and into her arms. They both vanished immediately afterwards."

"Off to her parent's house?" Kaito guessed.

"No. Into thin air. The last thing to disappear was the cat's smile."

"Ooh." -That- kind of vanished.

"After that, there was the dog with its hind-leg tangled in a fence. It seemed friendly, so I helped it get loose." Saguru's tone turned mystified. "I swear it -thanked- me before it ran off." 

"At least it was polite." Kaito said optimistically. That was his Saguru, helping people and righting wrongs where ever he could. 

Saguru made a thoughtful noise. "Then an old lady needed help crossing a street... the traffic was not stopping for her." Kaito just barely managed to muffle his chuckles. "So I helped her across. She thanked me as well, patting my cheek and saying 'I would Dine with Princes Someday'. And then she disappeared too."

"With a grin?"

"No... just... gone." Saguru shook his head slightly. "There may have been sparkles, but that might have been a trick of the light. I don't think she knew about Uncle Dorian or the whole Viscount thing either. But the thing is, I swear I've heard the phrasing before."

"And so you raided the library trying to find it?"

"No." Saguru said sincerely. "First I raided the library trying to discover if I'm going crazy."

"And?"

"And then a large orange orang-utan showed up with an armload of books under one arm as he looked through the shelves. He suggested I try reading the Brothers Grimm." 

"Ah." Of course. A large orange orang-utan librarian. Made perfect sense.

"He was very polite." Saguru continued, sounding vaguely shell-shocked. 

Kaito was sure he was. "So." He tilted his head towards Saguru, a silent invitation for slightly more than hugging should Saguru wish. "Did you find the quote?"

"In several stories actually." Saguru not-quite grimaced. “It was a blessing sometimes bestowed by Fairy Godmothers as a reward for tasks performed.” 

”Ah.” Definitely way out of Saguru’s comfort zone then. Fairy Godmothers weren’t scientific logic. Neither were talking animals or Cheshire Cats. They weren’t precisely in Kaito’s comfort zone either, but he was getting more accustomed to them as of late, as long as he didn’t think about it too hard. He sighed. “It’s only going to get worse, you know.”

Saguru nodded. “I had gotten that impression.” He said quietly.

”If you want to get out… If you want to leave, now is the time.” Kaito continued, trying to keep his voice even despite the lump trying to form in his throat. “Before things get too deep and you can’t.”

He liked Saguru. Really really really liked Saguru. He didn’t like to use the word ‘love’, but he _liked_ Saguru. He liked his company, he liked their conversations, he liked what they did both in and out of the bedroom, and he even had grown fond of the blond’s acerbic wit. Saguru was a grounding presence in his life when the normal outside reality and the possibilities growing inside his head collided and he did stuff he vaguely knew he shouldn’t be able to do. 

He could function, if Saguru decided to run for the hills. But he’d probably lose a lot more of his ‘Kuroba Kaito’ self if Saguru did leave. 

Saguru held him tighter, almost to the edge of pain. “No.” Saguru said resolutely and Kaito almost laughed. Saguru had spent too much time and effort getting Kaito into his arms, into his bed, to walk away now. 

His detective nuzzled the side of his neck for a moment, just breathing him in for a moment before speaking. “Have you ever heard of the story of ‘Tam Lin’?”

Kaito thought about it for a moment. “Not off the top of my head.”

”Tam Lin’s lover was cursed by the Queen of the Fairies.” Saguru mumbled into his skin. “In order to get him back, she had to hold on to him while he changed into various forms, some friendly, some frightening. In a version I read when I was younger, he turned into fire at one point.”

”But she didn’t let go.”

”No.” Saguru agreed resolutely, holding him tighter. “She didn’t let go. Not until she had her lover back.” 

Kaito nodded, twisting slightly to rest his head against Saguru’s shoulder, taking comfort in Saguru’s solid presence.

“I am only human.” Saguru said, his voice slightly unstable. “There are things that you can do which I can merely dream about. And to be honest, it –scares- me sometimes. But this world of yours does appear to abide by certain rules.”

”Rules that you can learn.” Kaito filled in. Saguru never stopped thinking. 

”Protections.” Saguru agreed. This new world of Kaito’s, the strangeness, was only going to get worse and Kaito didn’t know if he could always protect Saguru from it. Not everything was going to be as benevolent as the fiery cat-fox spirit that watched them from the corners of the house. And while Kaito was apart of the strangeness, Saguru was not. 

”’Guru?” Kaito murmured, turning his head towards his lover. “If things get too weird, or I stray too far-“

”I won’t let go.” Saguru vowed, his voice low and sincere as he held Kaito closer. “I promise.”

Kaito tightened his own grip on the blond, tucking his head under Saguru’s chin. ”Thank you.” 

Kaito wouldn’t let go either. 

+++


	6. Sisters

Aoko debated pulling out her textbooks and studying. There was nothing going on and she was starting to get bored. But it was her first time filling in and she wanted to make a good impression. Perhaps she'd get a job out of it. 

Then the door opened and blew that idea away. "Welcome!" She stood up and smiled at the people walking in the door. "What can we do to... Kaito?!"

Kaito, who was either not-quite leaning on Hakuba or Hakuba was being a giant fussy mother hen, looked up at her with an identical look of surprise. "A-Aoko?!"

"What are you..." Aoko trailed off as she realised that he was clutching his shoulder, red fluid leaking from under a cloth being pinned in place by his hand. "Right this way." She said instead, directing them back towards a room. 

"Thanks." Hakuba said quietly. "He lost a fight with the house."

"I did not lose!" Kaito snapped sulkily as he followed her. "The panel is half off, so we both lost and won."

"House?" She sat him down on a table in one of the back rooms. "What house?"

"My current job." Kaito said between clenched teeth as he sat down, jostling the arm slightly. "I'm restoring a house of Koizumi's Great Aunts. We got into a fight about if I needed to remove a panel to replace the pipes." 

"Nakamori?" Her temporary employer's voice echoed. 

"In here, Araide-sensei!" She called back. The tall doctor walked in, looking concerned. Kaito waved with his good hand while Hakuba glared at him.

"Ah, what seems to be the problem here?" Araide-sensei said, calmly taking control of the situation. She breathed a sigh of relief, taking a step back. 

"He lost a fight with the house." Hakuba repeated. 

"I did not!" Kaito protested. "Aoko, smack him for me will you?"

Araide-sensei blinked. "You know Nakamori?"

"I'm her not-brother." Kaito responded glibly. "I'm her brother, only not."

"He was trying to remove a wall panel at the house and it fought back." Hakuba explained. "I stopped the bleeding, but it looked like it should been looked at by a professional." 

"Probably a good idea." Araide-sensei agreed mildly, carefully removing Kaito's grasp from his arm and peeling the fabric back with a mild squelch. "Let's just take a look at it. Nakamori, if you could start our blond friend on some forms while I examine this."

"No problem!" She grabbed Hakuba's arm and pulled him out. "Come on, there's too many people in here." The blond hesitated, glancing back at Kaito. Kaito motioned for him to go, an amused but clearly affectionate look on his face. Hakuba nodded and followed.

"You're living together now?" She asked, walking to her station at the front of the clinic. 

"No, I was just visiting. Hiding, actually." Hakuba pushed the glasses he was wearing higher on his face. "It's been... rather hectic since our return." 

"I know, neither of you have visited me." She pulled the files she needed out of the filing cabinet and hit him in the arm with them. "Idiots." 

"My apologies." He said quietly, taking the files. Aoko paused and looked at him. He looked like he hadn't been sleeping well recently. 

"Anything I can do to help?" She asked, leaning against the wall. 

"Not at the moment, no." He glanced over the papers. It was just the usual contact information, if Hakuba knew where Kaito was living he'd be fine. She could probably fill in some of the details he didn't know. He gave her a shy look. "But thank you for the offer."

"You're welcome." She smiled back. He fiddled with the papers for a moment. 

"... You're a nurse?" He finally questioned. 

"Not yet." Aoko admitted. "I'm still going to school, it'll be another year or so before I'm actually allowed to work at a hospital. It's a school not too far from here. I'm just filling in for a friend today, doing paper work and stuff." 

He got a thoughtful look on his face, then nodded. "I think I know the place. Not a bad school, from what I understand." 

A yowl from Kaito as Araide-sensei probably started stitching up his arm interrupted them. "Ya big baby!" Aoko shouted. "Sit still and behave or I'll hit you with a mop!"

Silence from room. Hakuba stared at her with slightly wide eyes. She shrugged. "So my bedside manner may need a little improvement. It works."

He nodded. "I am... going to fill these out now." 

She smiled at him. Hakuba was such a nice polite boy.

+++

The squealing, buzzing sound of many excited females caused Aoko to look up from her books. It was lunch time and she was trying to get ahead of her studies so that she might have sometime time off to go... Oh.

Then she saw the cause of her classmates excitement. There was a guy walking through the park by campus. Not just any guy, but a blond. 

A blond whose bland expression melted into a pleased grin as he saw her and waved. She waved back, bookmarking her page and closing the book. "Aoko-chan!" Hakuba called as he strode towards her, oblivious or ignoring the comments around him. 

"Hakuba-kun. Is everything all right?" For a second she was worried that something was wrong with Kaito and that he'd come to pick her up. Maybe Kaito’s injury wasn’t healing as well as it should be? She hadn’t heard anything from them since she’d seen him last week. Hopefully they would have contacted her before then. 

"Aa. Yes. Have you eaten lunch yet?" He inquired. She shook her head and he set the bag he'd been carrying down on the bench. "Great. Then if you don't mind, you can be my guinea pig." 

She watched in surprise as he lowered the sides of the bag and untied the stack of bento boxes, handing her the top one. "You cook?"

"I am... learning." His cheeks turned faintly pink in embarrassment. "Experimenting, really. I had extra food while making lunch for Kaito-kun and myself and thought you might like a change in variety." 

"I..." She trailed off as he handed her a bento and she got a chance to look at the inside of the polished box. She'd seen rice that was red before, usually Omu-Rice, but never like this. "What is this?"

"Southwestern American food." Hakuba explained. "'TexMex' I believe it is called. That is Spanish Rice, you will probably need a fork instead of chopsticks, it refuses stick together easily, the not-quite sushi looking things are a bean and mince burrito. Although usually it is not cut up like that, normally it is left in a tube shape, like a handroll. I had some trouble finding tortillas, so it is not quite the same as we had when we were travelling in the States. If you do not like it, please do not hesitate to say so and I will feed it to Kaito's bottomless stomach."

Aoko gave him a questioning look, but picked up the fork and took a bite. The texture was a bit weird, but it had a pleasantly spicy taste. She tried the rice as well and found that it was also spicy. Not wasabi spicy, but enough of a bite that you could taste it. Hakuba said nothing, handing her a can of juice from the bag as well. "It's different." She finally commented. "Not bad, but different." 

Hakuba nodded. "Yes. We got a taste for it after we were introduced to it by a short crazy redhead." That sounded like a story. He blushed slightly. "Uh... do not ask." He hastened to add. 

She nodded back, deciding to take his word for it. "So what made you decide to learn how to cook?" Aoko asked instead. 

"Kaito." He titled his head back, looking up at the sky. Aoko privately made a mental note at the dropped suffixes. She got the feeling that the lack of suffix wasn't an insult, quite the opposite. "The second time I stopped by the house he is working on, there was a huge explosion from the top floor. He shouted back that he was fine. There was a... slight pause, then he added that the beans were done."

"... Beans?"

"Evidently he had been heating up a can of beans with a blow torch. The can exploded."

Her eyes went wide. "Oh, dear." 

Hakuba grimaced, as if recalling a particularly bad incident. "It was not nearly as messy as the make-shift can opener..."

"Eep." There really didn't seem to be much more she could say than that. She -knew- Kaito could get creative when there wasn't anything 'normal' for him to use at hand.

The blond nodded, closing his eyes. "Since chances are that both of us will be moving out of our parent's abodes within the foreseeable future, I decided it would be prudent to learn how to cook, aside from heating instant meals. I am currently attempting to convince Kaito to learn as well, but at the moment he is lacking in both the time and the patience to do so."

"Good luck convincing him." Aoko gave him a small salute, before grabbing another slice of the burrito and eating it. Conversation was good, but she still had to get back to class soon. "When we were younger, I couldn't get him to even set a table, he said it was 'girl's work'."

Hakuba made a rude sound and made a muttered comment about 'cross-dressing' that Aoko couldn't completely catch. She made a thoughtful noise in return, taking several more bites of food. It really wasn't all that bad, the unusual taste kind of grew on her. "So." She commented, fiddling with the rice a bit before scooping some up. "Are you and Kaito dating now?"

Hakuba's cheeks turned slightly pink as he suddenly found the trees on the other side of the grassy area highly interesting. "... Would you be angry if the answer is yes?" He asked tightly, not quite-avoiding the question.

"I would be angry if the answer you give me is not the truth." She said lightly. The two of them kept enough secrets from her, she'd like to think they could at least be honest about this with her. 

Hakuba was silent for a moment. "Then...Yes." He said, releasing a small breath, like he was bracing himself for a confrontation. "Yes, we are."

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Aoko smiled at him. 

He shot her a dirty look. She reached over and patted his knee and he sighed. "It is... still new.” He said awkwardly. “We only started actually dating once we returned to Japan." 

Less than a month, then. She supposed she could forgive them for not telling her yet. "I'm kind of surprised you didn't start before." She admitted. He all but stalked Kaito in High School, then dragged him to Britain, then across America. Nothing subtle about -that-. The fact that Kaito hadn't protested it said a lot as well. 

"It is... complicated." Hakuba ran a hand down his face. He looked tired when he said that. "And not just the fact that we are both men. There were a lot of things going on at the time."

"And now?"

"There are still a lot of things going on." He closed his eyes. "But... not as life threatening anymore."

He fell silent and she mulled his words over as she ate. "Anything I can help with?" She finally asked.

Hakuba opened his eyes, blinking stupidly at her. "Aoko-chan?"

"Aoko." She corrected. "And I'll call you Saguru." If Kaito was her ‘Not-Brother’, that sort of made Haku... Saguru her ‘Not-Brother-In-Law’, didn't it? Or something. They had known each other for several years now; it seemed silly to keep calling him by his family name if they were friends. Or not-relatives. What ever. Kaito always bent the social norms.

He looked at her for several moments, then nodded shyly. "Aoko." He agreed. 

She grinned back. "So is there anything I can help you with, Saguru-kun?" It was hard to drop the habit of calling him 'Hakuba', but it was worth the warm look on his face when she said his name. 

"Not really." He admitted, but his expression was lighter than it had been. "It is just... I turn twenty this year."

So did she and Kaito. "And?" She asked in confusion.

"And I have a choice to make." His eyes narrowed slightly behind his glasses. "Japan does not allow for dual citizenships. So the choice is for me to remain in Japan or move to Britain and take on my Uncle's title." 

"I thought you were already a Be... Fi... Vi..." What was that word?

"Viscount." Saguru said, making it sound wonderfully foreign and British. "And no, not officially until my twenty-first. And logically, I cannot be a British Viscount, much less an Earl, if I am not a British citizen." 

She nodded. That did make sense. "If you do move to Britain, you can still come to visit, can't you?"

"Yes." He admitted. "But... I have always considered Japan to be my home."

"Oh." Yeah, she could see how this could be a problem. "What does Kaito say about this? Have you talked to him about it?"

"I have." Saguru got a very particular look on his face, like he couldn't be sure if he was annoyed or not. "He said not to factor himself into the equation."

"Eeh." Aoko stabbed at one of the burrito slices. "Kaito's an idiot sometimes. Talk to him about stuff that doesn't matter and he can go on and on, but as soon as it's personal...."

"What he says is usually very short and tactless." Saguru finished, an amused twist to his lips. "Yes, I have noticed." 

She smiled back. "He does mean well." Kaito would probably be very annoyed with Saguru if the detective decided to stay in Japan because that's where Kaito was. Aoko silently agreed with that, had she been the one stuck in Kaito's position. 

"Yes." Saguru agreed mildly. Aoko finished off the burrito and started poking at the rice again. "...There are... options." Saguru finally ventured. "For Kaito. If he wants. If I decide to live in Britain, instead of Japan. But..."

"...You need to make a decision first." She filled in.

Saguru nodded. "I need to make a decision first." He echoed tiredly. "Most couples who date at our age do not actually end up staying together-"

"Saguru-kun?" She cut him off. 

"Yes?"

"Don't talk yourself out of this." 

He blinked, looking startled. That was something she had noticed about people who were above average intelligence, they had a habit of often over-analysing things and managing to talk themselves out of what they wanted. Oftentimes things were simpler than most people realised. 

It took a moment, and then he smiled at her. Not a polite smile, like he usually had in public, but a shy one that was quietly grateful. "Thank you, Aoko."

"You're welcome." She smiled back, and then found herself blushing. She covered it up by quickly taking a few bites of rice. He really was handsome sometimes. 

They sat in silence again, Saguru tilting his face up towards the sun again, closing his eyes. 

"If... if you ever need to talk..." Aoko offered. "You do know you can talk to me, right?" Kaito seemed to be able to talk to Saguru about things that he couldn't, or wouldn't talk to her about. That was one of the reasons why she'd been trying to get them to become friends to start with. But she got the feeling that Saguru didn't have many people to talk to. 

He gave her a slightly surprised look. She smiled back and shrugged. "Well... we're practically family now, aren't we?"

To her surprise, he started laughing at that. She tilted her head to the side, confused by his reaction. "I think..." Saguru chortled "I am getting the better end of the deal with that."

"... Oh?"

A fond grin spread across Saguru's face. "I get you, Jii-chan, Kaito's Mum and Aunty Kitty. Kaito gets a bunch of blood-thirsty crooks."

"That's a terrible thing to say about your family." Aoko scolded him. "And besides, if you've got me, you get my father too."

Saguru paled. "... Thank you, Aoko." He said dryly, his polite face back on. 

"You're welcome." She sparkled back. He continued to look slightly pained as she finished off the last of the rice, cleaning the plastic obento box of the last scraps of food. "And thank you for the food."

"Thank you for being my test subject." He took the empty box and put it on the bottom of the stack of obento.

"Any time." She patted his arm. "And I do mean that, Saguru-kun." 

"Thank you." He collected his bag and rose. "In the meantime, I shall leave you to finish your reading." He leaned down, took her hand and kissed the back of it. 

Girls squeaked in the background. 

Saguru winked, then turned and walked off. She blushed slightly, picking up her books again, flipping to where she had been reading. So maybe she wasn't going to leave early today after all, but it had been worth it. 

"Aoko!" Saguru paused about halfway out of the grassy area and waved. "Same time, next week?"

She waved back. "It's a Date!" 

Girls squealed in the background. 

He nodded and disappeared as she smugly returned to her books. 

That was rather satisfying. No wonder Kaito pulled stuff like that all the time.

-fin-


	7. Preferences

+++ 

Kaito heard something crinkle as Saguru stood up and absently straightened his clothing. "Just a sec." He requested, rising from his chair and reaching around his boyfriend, sliding his hands into Saguru's back trouser pockets.

"Something I can do for you?" Saguru inquired with an amused sarcastic smirk to his lips as he allowed Kaito to grope him. Kaito nearly grinned in triumph as he pulled a foil packet out a back pocket. 

"Honestly, Saguru." Kaito waved the foil packet under the blond's nose as he raised one eyebrow. "Is this -really- all you can think about?"

"It's not my fault." Saguru didn't quite pout in return, but it was close. Definitely a defensive sulk there. "I can never find the kind I like whenever we go out." 

"Only you." Kaito said with exasperated fondness as he handed the foil packet of Earl Grey Tea back to his boyfriend. 

-fin-


	8. Rough Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gratuitous Smut.

Saguru staggered up the stairs of the Red House to the living room. Fortunately, the house was merciful today and only added one extra flight. He patted a wall, murmuring a tired thanks as he kicked off his shoes and slipped into his house scuffs, not bothering with straightening his shoes right now. 

It had been a day. One of -those- days. First row with Baaya and Father before his morning tea resulting in him running slightly tardy. He’d missed the bus that got him there early, leaving him to wait to catch the second. Then on the way to class, he’d been involved an accident involving a roller-skating girl and her rather large dog. This had resulted in half of his homework being destroyed. 

The bottom half. 

His teachers had not been amused. 

From then on it was nothing more than a series of minor annoyances and problems. If he'd been in a better mood, he would have shrugged most of it off. But as it was, it felt like every thing was just one more thing pressing down on him. 

"Kaito?" He called, wondering if his partner was home. He was tired, frustrated and had to be back to his father's residence in a few hours. All he wanted right now was some time with his boyfriend, hopefully an hour with a good book to calm down, and to finish both his make-up work and homework before he went to sleep and started all over in the morning. 

"In here." Kaito's voice called from the bedroom. "I've been waiting for you." There was a mischievous note to his voice and Saguru took a deep breath and let it out, relived that it looked like at least something was going his way today. He wandered through the living room to the bedroom.

He found Kaito sprawled out on the bed, wearing only an erection and a smirk. 

Saguru froze, his brain functions coming to a complete and utter halt as all the blood in his body flowed in the opposite direction, his pants becoming tight. Kaito. Horny. Naked. Bed. 

Kaito looked him up and down, his gaze appreciative and assessing. "Strip." Kaito commanded, his voice a low purr, the pleased smirk deepening. "Take off your clothes. For me." 

He swallowed. Okay. He could do that. The backpack hit the ground with a loud heavy thud as he attacked his shirt with fingers trembling in anticipation. Saguru didn't bother undoing the buttons, he just pulled the entire thing over his head before ripping open his belt, getting the top button undone before pushing both his trousers and underwear down. Things got tangled up at his socks and he awkwardly hopped up and down on one foot before managing to shove all the fabric off. 

Looking up, he half-expected to see Kaito laughing at his gauche display, but the brunette seemed enthralled as he watched him. Saguru straightened, feeling somewhat self-conscious, something that Kaito didn’t seem to have a problem with. 

“Come here.” Kaito said, holding a hand out towards him, his expression warm. Saguru walked to the bed, taking the magician’s hand. Kaito grinned, tugging on it and pulling Saguru off balance so he landed in a graceless sprawl on his partner. 

“Better.” Kaito practically purred, his warm erection pressing against Saguru’s belly as Saguru managed to arrange himself so he wasn’t pinning his partner uncomfortably. From this close, he could see Kaito’s dark eyes, more liquid black pupil than iris. The things he did to Kaito. The things Kaito did to him. Gods. 

Kaito gave him a fond quicksilver smile. “Kiss me.” Kaito ordered. He shimmied up Kaito’s body, pressing his lips against Kaito’s, tangling his hands in Kaito’s short hair. Kaito wrapped his hands around Saguru, holding him tight as he kissed all the thoughts out of Saguru’s brain. His mind was little more than an incoherent haze when Kaito finally pulled away. 

“What do you want to do?” Kaito murmured, running his hands along Saguru’s sides, Saguru’s erection pressing insistently against Kaito’s thigh. 

Saguru shivered. “I want you.” He said roughly. 

”Okay.” Kaito said, his voice both calm and affectionate. “How?” 

Saguru closed his eyes, tilting his head back as he thought. What did he want most? Right here, right now? It took a little bit for his brain to come up with an answer. “Inside.” He said, looking down at Kaito’s patient expression. “I want you inside me.” 

Kaito’s expression didn’t change, but his erection gave a happy little jump against Saguru. Kaito had vast amounts of control that he could pull upon occasionally and it looked like he’d chosen to do just that, letting Saguru drive this encounter. 

”I think we can do that.” Kaito said, just slightly teasing as he reached under one of the pillows behind him, pulling out a tube of lube. Kaito passed it to him, Saguru staring at it dumbly for a moment. 

“I want to watch you.” Kaito said, eyes bright under his dark lashes and Saguru swallowed. “Show me.” 

Saguru swallowed again and nodded, climbing off of Kaito’s warm body, settling himself down at Kaito’s feet. He fumbled with the tube, finally popping the lid open and spreading a generous amount on his fingers before leaning back and spreading his legs wide. 

Kaito made a hissing sound and he looked up at Kaito to find his partner staring at him in complete fascination and awe. Saguru gave a small smirk of his own, reaching past his hard erection, around his warm heavy balls to the opening underneath, teasing himself and Kaito with small hesitant touches, circling the puckered hole. 

Kaito licked his lips, leaning forward. “Show me,” he said again. The order this time was on the verge of breathless. 

Saguru groaned at the pressure as he did, slipping one finger inside of himself. He pushed it in and out, the slippery lube making a small squelching sound as he did so. Kaito’s breath caught, the magician breathing through his mouth as he watched, one hand reaching towards his own erection, gripping it tightly around the base.

Saguru twisted his fingers, closing his eyes as he pressed another finger inside, fucking himself on it and Kaito groaned, heavy and lustful. Before Kaito, he never would have done something like this, performing such a flagrant exhibition. But for Kaito… 

There was something freeing about doing this in front of Kaito, for his partner’s eyes only. He relaxed, pushing his fingers inside himself as far as he could, stretching himself, displaying his body for Kaito’s pleasure as sweat began to slide down his skin. 

”Enough.” Saguru finally said, staring into Kaito’s eyes, both of them breathing hard. “I want you. Now.” 

”You have me.” Kaito said simply, leaning back and displaying his dripping erection. 

Kaito quickly grabbed a condom, slipping on himself as Saguru climbed over his body, kneeling over Kaito’s narrow hips. He grabbed Kaito’s erection, holding it steady as he lowered himself onto Kaito, the brunette holding on to his hips for balance, but leaving Saguru in control. Kaito’s erection pressed against him for a moment before sliding inside, Saguru’s body stretching to accommodate him. 

They both groaned as Kaito finally slid completely inside, Saguru resting on Kaito’s hips. Kaito’s head was thrown back, eyes pressed shut, jaw locked tight, the bruising grip on Saguru’s hips the main sign of his struggle for control. Saguru leaned forward, feeling Kaito shift inside of him, tangling his hands in Kaito’s wild hair and giving his boyfriend a sloppy open mouth kiss. “Give it up.” He ordered as he pulled back, Kaito open his dark eyes at him. “Give it to me. Hard as you can.” 

Kaito groaned, bracing his feet on the sheets and thrusting upwards. Saguru grunted, bracing himself on Kaito’s shoulders, and snapped his hips back down. “Harder.” He grunted, setting a brutal pace. “Harder.” 

Kaito did so, tightening his grip on Saguru’s hips almost to the point of pain, driving himself into Saguru as hard and fast as he could to Saguru’s movements. Saguru arched, finding a better angle of penetration, harder, better, faster. He shifted, pressing one palm against the centre of Kaito’s chest, wrapping his other hand around his erection, pumping it furiously.

”Oh, god.” Kaito swore, staring at him with wide eyes like he was drinking in the sight of Saguru. Broken words poured out of his mouth, a litany of ‘please, yes, faster, Saguru’, over and over, praise and adoration for him, just for him, only for him. Saguru let the sounds pour over him like it was a physical thing, driving him higher, the world coiling tighter around them until just the two of them, now, now, now, now…. 

Orgasm took him completely by surprise. It hit him hard, pleasure almost as sharp as pain, reducing the world to white static. 

When his senses returned, he was sprawled on Kaito, who had an arm lethargically wrapped around Saguru’s back, the other hand idly running circles through Saguru’s hair, the two of them stuck together in a sticky mess. With a touch of embarrassment, he realised that he did not know if Kaito had even come. “Um.” He shifted slightly, finding Kaito still inside him. 

”Hi.” Kaito murmured, a pleasant murmur. 

Saguru’s lips twitched in a helpless smile. Fancy running into Kaito here. 

”Hello.” He returned the greeting. He shifted, lifting his hips up, Kaito’s spent member sliding out of him with some relief. He levered himself up enough to reach back and slide the condom off of Kaito, throwing it in the direction of the waste bin before collapsing on top of his boyfriend again. Kaito didn’t seem to mind Saguru’s weight pinning him down, so he lay there, tucking his hands around Kaito’s warm body. 

”Rough day?” Kaito inquired as Saguru rested his head on Kaito’s shoulder, breathing in their intermingled scents and the sharp scent of sex. 

”Yeah.” He nuzzled Kaito’s neck. “What brought this on?” Not that he was complaining, quite the opposite, he was rather grateful… but finding Kaito waiting for him in bed was just a bit of a surprise. 

”Well…” Saguru could practically feel the muted amusement coming off of his partner. “I figured it wouldn’t hurt to blow off some steam. And they say that exercise is the best way to burn off frustration.” 

Saguru laughed, burying his face against Kaito’s neck to muffle the sound. That was warped logic if he ever heard it. But he did feel a lot better than he had when he first came home. “I’ll have to remember that.” He promised, lifting his head up and grinning at Kaito. 

”Oh, good.” Kaito grinned back, pulling him down for a kissing session. 

After all, Kaito had rough days too. 

-fin-


	9. Veils and Bombs

+++

"So what do we want to try for dinner?" Saguru asked as Aoko chased Kaito in circles around him. She had just been let out of school and they were picking her up for dinner and a chance to hang out. 

"You're not... huff! Cooking tonight?" Aoko asked as Kaito sought a temporary refuge on a fire hydrant. 

"I did not get a chance to." Saguru ran a hand through his hair, sighing softly. His father was subtly pushing for him to volunteer for on some cases on the side, get his reputation up again as a Teenage Detective and unfortunately, the Housekeeper was starting to take his side. Which meant his access to the kitchen was slowly being cut off. "And the house isn't ready for cooking for a guest yet."

Aoko probably wouldn't care if they just ate instant ramen, but still, it was the principle of the thing. 

"What about Thai?" Kaito suggested, doing a quick flip. "Something spicy."

"As long as it's cheap." Aoko agreed. "I don't think any of us have much-"

**:: BOOM!!!! ::**

A building across the street to them exploded, smoke followed by flames. A small bundle of figures flew into the air, pushed out by the force of the explosion. "Shyte." In flash, Kaito was gone, as if he'd teleported.

"You- DAMMIT, PUCK! GET BACK HERE!" Saguru shouted, chasing after. Kaito was almost moving faster than he could track as people started screaming and scrambling. He caught sight of the magician bouncing off a trash can, a tree, the top of a street-lamp before launching himself in to the air. Saguru spotted the tattle-tale hint of silver glowing in his hands as a large stream of flowing silver silk appeared. 

He heard Aoko's shout behind him and spun around, quickly grabbing her hand and pulling her along as he fought the crowd. He glanced back up at the free falling magician just in time to see the falling tangled group disappear into a billowing swath of silver fabric and disappear. Kuroba released the silk, the cloth flying higher into the sky before disappearing, then summoned two more long lengths of glittering fabric that soared like wings behind him.

The second explosion hit. Saguru wrapped his arms around Aoko, protecting her from the worst of the impact. Pieces of office equipment and parts of the building started flying towards the crowd below.

Only to be stopped by Kaito's long veils. The fabric grew as it 'absorbed' more mass, forming a protective barrier between the building and the people below. The magician had been blown upwards by the impact and was falling towards the ground again, slowing his decent by apparently stepping on what didn't get blocked by the fabric in his hands. 

"Shit, shit, shit, bugger, dammit, shit." Saguru chanted as he watched his partner work his magic, vaguely aware of the death grip Aoko had on his arm. Just how much mass was Kaito teleporting or transforming there? The aftermath of this was not going to be good, Kaito was going to crash and crash -hard-.

And then Kaito ran out of things to step on and started to fall. 

"KAI-!!" Aoko's shout was cut off as he pulled her towards the carnage. 

"Do NOT call his name." He warned, ignoring her large panicked eyes. Names, names had magic too. Names were also a distraction and right now they needed to trust that Kaito could take care of himself. Dammit, dammit dammit.

The dust was blinding as they staggered forward, coughing and waving it away from their faces. Then a gust of wind blew it away from them and Saguru realised with a jolt that it was because all the items Kaito's veils had absorbed had finally hit the ground all at once. 

-In a very decorative wall, forming a protective barricade between the burning building and the people screaming around them. "Puck?!" He shouted, looking around.

Kaito was standing in front of the 'doorway' to the wall, looking like a sort of fallen angel with the silk fabric billowing behind him. The silver fabric started to fade away in a breeze that could be seen, but not felt. He heard Aoko take a sharp breath as she saw him, probably realising for the first time that there was often something rather unworldly about her not-brother. 

"Y'know..." Kaito commented softly, looking at the patches of blue sky above as the last of the faintly shimmering material vanished around him. "I really miss flying sometimes." With a soft sigh, Kaito appeared to shake it off, pulling another silk scarf out of nothingness. The fabric hung from his fingertips like a water-droplet that grew and grew until it was almost as wide as Kaito was tall, not quite touching the ground. Then it 'popped', the ends falling down and revealing a small knot of children held safely within.

Edogawa Conan looked up at them, eyes wide and surprised as a soccer ball bounced out of his belt buckle and loudly deflated. His small group of friends blinked their eyes in amazement as one of them whispered in shock that they weren't dead. 

Saguru charged towards Kaito as the magician leaned forward, a pleasant, if dazed smile on his face. "You get yourselves into the weirdest predicaments." Kaito informed them as he continued to pitch forward, falling down in a boneless slump. 

"Dammit!" Saguru spat, sliding to a stop next to Kaito's slumped body. Aoko pushed him aside, quickly pulling up one eyelid as she ran her hands over his head. 

"He's got a bump here." She announced. "Eyes are dilated, he probably has a concussion. We need to get him to a hospital."

"No." Saguru picked Kaito up, the magician's head lolling against his shoulder, ignoring Aoko's protests to the contrary. "We need to get him out of here." After a magic trick of that size, there were going to be questions and a lot of them. And Kaito was in no shape to be answering them. He strode off, half aware of Aoko scurrying after him. 

"Saguru!" She snapped, dodging people as he moved as fast as he could without jolting Kaito further. "He needs-"

"Not. Here." Saguru snapped, slowing his stride momentarily to allow her to catch up and giving her a stern look, she had a stubborn tilt to her jaw, but a scared look in her eyes. "We have dealt with this before." He allowed, picking up his pace again. She jogged after him as he flagged down an empty taxi that was stopped at the street, startling the surprised driver. 

He released Kaito long enough to grab his wallet and thrust a 5,000 yen note at the driver. "Go." He instructed curtly as Aoko scrambled in after him, the door shutting on her as the driver sped off. 

"He needs-" Aoko tried again.

"To get home to safely recuperate. Preferably as fast as humanly possible." Saguru cut her off. Kaito's skin was turning a grey colour, dark smudges forming under his eyes. "It is not the possibility of a head-wound we have to worry about." 

Aoko made a soft whimpering sound as she looked at Kaito. Saguru sighed, giving driving instructions to the driver, who watched them with wide eyes, but kept his mouth shut. "This happened once in America." Saguru finally explained. Aoko looked up at him with wide eyes, but nodded, holding her tongue. 

The drive was quick and silent after that. They pulled up in front of the building with a slight jolt, the car doors automatically opening for them. "I trust I do not have to request for an oath of silence on this one?" Saguru questioned the driver. 

The driver shook his head, waving the 5,000 note. "This one's off the books." He promised.

"Thank you." Saguru nodded his head as he stepped out of the car, taking Kaito with him. "It is nothing you need fear retribution for, it's for our own privacy's sake."

The driver relaxed his grip on the steering wheel slightly at that. Aoko got out of her own car door, scurrying after him. The taxi quickly drove off, vanishing in the distance. 

"Follow me." Saguru instructed, nudging the white gate with a leg. It opened for him and he stepped through the rose covered arbour, walking towards the front door. It took some fumbling, but he managed to dig his house keys out of his pocket without jostling Kaito too much and stuck it in the front door.

The lock didn't budge.

"I know you do not care for me much." He addressed the house. "But Kaito is hurt. We need to get him into bed as quickly as possible." 

He couldn't read the house nearly as well as Kaito could, but he could sense a -shift- in it. The door opened under his hand. "Thank you." He said quietly, stepping through the doorway.

-and into the bedroom, on the first floor.

Well, he had said they needed to get Kaito into bed as quickly as possible.... He shrugged it off, setting Kaito down on the bed, then quickly undressed his lax partner. 

"Saguru?" Aoko's uncertain voice followed. 

"Come in, Aoko." He called, stripping Kaito down to his shirt and underpants, then pulled the duvet out from under Kaito and covered him with it. "Say hello to La Rouge Maison, the Red House." Kaito's temperature was down, he was slightly chilled to the touch, but he was breathing steadily. The magician had slept for almost three days after the first time he'd teleported a great distance with Saguru, how long would he sleep this time?

"Nice to meet you." Aoko said, shutting the door behind her and pausing to take off her shoes. "Um...."

"My apologies, this is not the best introduction to the house." Saguru said with a sigh, brushing some of the fringe out of Kaito's face. He turned and busied himself with folding the clothing Kaito had been wearing and setting them on one of the chairs in the room. "Come, I will fetch you a cup of tea. That will fix you right up."

Aoko was looking around the room in obvious confusion. There was only one door in and out of the sparse bedroom, the one they had just come through.

Saguru gave her a faint smile, reaching past her and opening the door again. To his relief, this time it lead where it usually did, to their living room and kitchen. "This way."

"How-?" Aoko gaped, taking her shoes with her. 

"La Rouge Maison belonged to Koizumi's Great Aunt Rose." Saguru explained, toeing off his own shoes and setting them next to the door to the stairs. "Kaito has been working on fixing it up. I would give you the grand tour, but it is safer if Kaito does it when he wakes up."

"Safer?" Aoko questioned, looking around the room. 

"The house tolerates me because of Kaito, but it still attempts to devour me on occasion." Such as six flights of stairs instead of three to get to the toilet. Saguru gave her a small smile before busying himself with making tea. Earl Grey with milk and sugar. He needed the fortification the caffeine and sugar rush brought. He would put a cup next to Kaito as well, perhaps this burn out wouldn't be as bad as the previous.

Aoko was quiet while he made the tea. He finished, setting two cups and saucers on the low kontatsu before walking into the bedroom placing the third next to Kaito. Usually he would make an extra sitting for the house or the familiar that wandered around, but he didn't feel like taking the risk of making four cups at the moment. 

He sat down across from Aoko, who had her hands wrapped around the mug, a thoughtful look on her face. He took a sip of his own tea and waited. 

"There's a lot that you haven't been telling me, isn't there?" She finally said in her very best stubborn Nakamori voice.

"Yes." Saguru agreed. She glared at him, spitfire in her blue eyes. He gave her a faint smile back, vaguely reassured by her temper. "And I cannot tell you all of it, but I will tell you some."

"Like why you're not surprised that Kaito passed out." Aoko said grimly. "He's done this before."

"Yes." Saguru agreed, then proceeded to explain what he knew of the physics of magic, Kaito's relationship with magic and the role magic played in their daily lives.

+++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 5,000 yen = roughly $50USD. 
> 
> This chapter was posted out of order on dreamwidth to some lovely fanart being drawn of Conan in the series:  
> <https://iraperegrintook.deviantart.com/art/DC-Morbid-Attire-84172018>


	10. Grey Conversations

Conan looked at the two nondescript grey buildings in irritation. While the Tokyo numbering system often resembled something organised by a drunk dyslexic high on some sort of illegal substance, he was pretty sure that he was in the correct place. At least according to the map he'd printed out.

And he was quite certain he'd seen Hakuba Saguru disappear into one of the buildings here. 

He double checked the buildings again. He was correct, the buildings were missing a number. He frowned. Buildings normally didn't go missing, at least not without it being noted in the public records.

"I thought I glimpsed you." A smooth voice made him jump. He glanced up to find the British Detective standing next to him, his tie loosened and shoes untied, like he'd just gotten home before being interrupted. "Something I can do for you, Edogawa-kun?"

"I..." Conan glanced around. Hakuba certainly hadn't come out of either of the two grey buildings. "I'm here to see Kuroba."

"I see." Hakuba said mildly. "I am afraid that Kaito-kun is currently unavailable, but if you would like to come in and visit him, I am certain he would not mind."

Kuroba was unavailable, but he could see him anyway. That was a contradiction if he had ever heard one. "Thank you." He said, nodding his head. Hakuba nodded back, then turned back around. A door opened nearby and Conan glanced towards the office lady stepping out of one of the grey buildings. When he looked back, Hakuba was gone again. 

There wasn't enough time for the blond to have gone into the other building. The lady who had stepped out of the grey buildings stopped and smiled down at him. "Are you lost, bouya?" 

He smiled up at her, shaking his head. She smiled back, patted his head and kept walking, heading towards the convenience store on the corner. 

"I see it is up to it is old tricks again." Hakuba said dryly, suddenly reappearing again, making Conan nearly jump out of his skin. 

"How!?" He demanded, holding a hand to his chest and feeling his heart thumping rapidly on his chest like it was trying to escape. It was like the blond had disappeared and reappeared out if mid-air. 

"Magic." Hakuba deadpanned, holding out a hand. "Come, I will lead you through." 

Conan eyed the hand in distaste. He hated holding hands like he was a small child, unless it was with Ran. And even then he hated the reminder of his diminutive size. 

"It is merely for a few metres." Hakuba said, looking like he was having similar thoughts to Conan's. Well, minus the Ran part. "I could carry you if you prefer."

Conan took his hand. Hakuba nodded. "Close your eyes, it may help." 

Oh, hell no. He was going to keep his eyes and senses wide awake and alert for this. Hakuba stepped forward and he hopped slightly to keep up, watching the blond for any false moves. However, between one eye-blink and the next, he found himself off the sidewalk and in a slightly dilapidated rose garden. "The f..."

"Ah, we made it." Hakuba released his hand. "Excellent. I never know when it is about to develop a sense of humour again. Right this way." The blond strode forward down the path. Conan glanced backwards. Behind the rosebushes and white fence, he could see the spot on the sidewalk he had been standing on. The grey buildings rose on either side around him, casting no shadows on either the garden or the tall red house in front of them. 

What the hell kind of trick was this!?

"Quickly now." Hakuba urged, snapping him out his shock. "It may still decide to lose us yet. And Kuroba is the only one the House will listen to." 

The House? He trotted forward, eyeing the tall building. It looked old and very English. Victorian or Edwardian period most likely, in need of some repair. Cosmetic work at least. 

"Say hello to La Rouge Maison." Hakuba said, looking almost bored as he stepped inside the house. "Be careful, it bites. You may leave your shoes on until we reach our living area, as there are still repairs going on. How energetic are you feeling?"

"Decent. Why?" He asked suspiciously. 

"Because it can conceivably be more than one flight of stairs up to the first story." Hakuba sighed. "This way, stay close." 

That made no sense either. He frowned, following the British detective up the stairs. It appeared to do a twist halfway up the first flight, nothing unusual about that. Hakuba glanced backwards to make sure that he was on the stairs, then started climbing.

The staircase turned. Then turned again. And again. And again. "How tall is this building again?" Conan questioned. 

"Ground floor, first floor, second floor and a tower." Hakuba reported back, looking irritated as he turned around another twist. Conan followed, a few steps behind. They should have been approaching the second floor by now. Or at least the tower. He glanced up and realised that the blond had vanished again. 

"Hakuba?" Conan called, feeling faintly alarmed as his voice appeared to echo in the stairway. He ran through the next twists of stairs, not finding the blond. "Hakuba?! HAKUBA!"

"Dammit, I told you to stick close." Hakuba's muffled voice cursed back. "Where are you? Up or down?"

"I don't know." He called back. There was no markings on the walls or the stairs, no way to tell which way -was- up or down. 

"Stay where you are." Hakuba instructed. "Don't move."

Move? Move -where-? Conan did as instructed, leaning against the wall. A few minutes later, the blond came running up the stairs, looking annoyed and muttering something under his breath. "We have –got- to mark these levels one of these days." Hakuba finally cursed, pounding a fist on the wall. 

How Conan had passed the blond was a mystery, he hadn't seen him at all. Hakuba sighed, pulling together his bland face again. "My apologies. Right. Hopefully it should be just another level or so. Stay. Close."

They had gone up enough stairs to be at the top of the building and it was another level or so!? ".... Right." 

Hakuba gave him a dry look, then nodded. "We are here to check-up on Kaito." The half-Briton announced to the air. "If you could kindly please allow us to visit him?"

The air seemed to gain a strange quality to it, like it was listening, or someone was watching them. Then the feeling faded, leaving them stuck in a staircase in the middle of the house. Hakuba nodded, looking pleased as he took to the stairs again. 

"How many flights have you climbed?" Conan asked conversationally. 

"Six, today. My record is twelve. Kaito was not in the house." 

"And it depends on if Kuroba is in the house?" He asked sceptically. Hakuba shot him a glance that clearly stated that Conan was an idiot if he didn't believe him. Conan frowned back. 

It didn't make -sense-. 

"Here we are." Hakuba said with a definite sigh of relief as they approached what looked like gap in the wall, not even a proper door. "This area is currently not under renovation, please feel free to take off your shoes. I apologise, we do not have any house slippers for guests yet."

"That's fine." He waved it off. Socks often times were better than large floppy slippers for wandering around houses anyway. Hakuba nodded and toed off his shoes, sliding into a pair of tan slippers with a brown and black argyle pattern at the top. A pair of plain black house scuffs and a smaller pale blue pair with umbrellas embroidered into the top sat next to the door. Kuroba and... a girl?

"Kaito is this way." Hakuba motioned with a tilt of his head. "You should be safe so long as you do not go on the stairwell again. Regardless, please practise caution when passing through doorways and windows."

He wasn't planning on climbing through any windows, but okay. He nodded anyway and followed Hakuba into a bedroom. The first thing he could make out in the dark room was a large four poster bed, which dominated the right side of the room, the headboard against the centre of the wall. Hakuba walked to the side of it and turned on a lamp.

Then Hakuba's comment about Kuroba being 'Unavailable' made more sense. Kuroba was lying in the middle of the large bed, laying so still that he almost thought the magician was dead for a moment. 

Hakuba leaned forward, gently brushed the hair away from Kuroba's face, pressing his forehead against Kuroba's, his eyes closed. "Good. Still no fever." The blond commented. 

"What happened?" He asked, glancing at the bare walls. It was hard to imagine something that could take Kuroba out, the magician always had a feeling of untouchability. 

"You did." 

Conan looked up sharply. He hadn't touched Kuroba! Hell, he hadn't seen him in months, save for two days ago when a large swath of silk had swallowed them up and spat them out, revealing Kuroba's smiling face.

"For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." Hakuba quoted Newton's Third Law, sitting himself next to Kuroba on the bed. "Energy can be converted from one form to another, but it cannot be created or destroyed. Energy must come from somewhere. He has been asleep since he passed out." 

... Asleep?! For two days?! 

"I saw the news feeds. And the videos." Conan said quietly. He had gotten his hands on everything he could, trying to fill in the gaps. They had been investigating a probable man in black, Mitsuhiko and Ai had spotted a strangely blinking light. He'd realised it was a bomb as the light started blinking faster and pushed everyone out of the room, running them down the stairs. He'd hit the fire alarm as they ran, trying to get people out of the building. 

Then the explosion hit, he'd had just enough of a mind to kick a potted plant through the window before they'd been thrown out of the building. They'd stayed clumped together, everyone pressing against everyone else as Ayumi screamed for help in his ear. He'd twisted, intending to use the soccer ball in his belt to act as a soft landing pad, although at the time, he'd been doubtful of its chance of working. 

Then Kuroba had appeared out of thin air, waving a huge length of silver fabric. It had swallowed them up and he hadn't known anything else until the fabric had fallen away, revealing a shaky smiling Kuroba. 

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the entire incident had been caught by a multitude of people with cell phones with video capture and a few tourists with camcorders. The clearest footage was being shown on the television, but there was much more being posted on-line. 

The stuff on the internet was much more complete than the snippets on television, not having the time constraints that television news did, and from a wider variety of angles. He'd watched them all, multiple times, putting the footage in sequence, watching for tricks, for traps, for some explanation for how the magician had done the things he had.

But the footage showed no evidence of anything other than exactly what Kuroba appeared to have done. Which was the impossible. There had been no way for Kuroba to have set anything up in advance. There were no trap doors, no hidden compartments, no trick wires. He had simply ignored or bent the laws of physics at his whim. 

And apparently spent two days paying the price for it.

Kuroba rolled over, resting his head on the blond's thigh, wrapping an arm around Hakuba to keep him there. Hakuba made an amused sound, a fond expression on his face as he began to stroke Kuroba's dark hair, like one would a large cat. Kuroba made a pleased sound in his sleep.

"Did you find what you were looking for in the videos?" Hakuba asked calmly, as if he weren't being intimate with the thief on his lap.

Conan shook his head. "It still doesn't make sense. He -shouldn't- be able to do what he did..."

"And yet he did." Hakuba nodded, as if he were well used to this conundrum. "I have come to the conclusion, Edogawa-kun, that when dealing with both Kaitou and Magicians, it makes life far less stressful to simply... believe." 

"Believe?" 

"He has no idea that it cannot be done." Hakuba's lips seemed to twitch in a small smile. "So therefore he does what he pleases, logic be damned." 

"... Like the house." 

"Precisely." Hakuba sighed, the smug expression falling away. "Although I will also be the first to admit that said belief is not always easy. There is a price to pay, for everything."

Conan nodded, a small sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Logic. He could deal with things that made sense. This... was a bit out of his comfort zone. "So he did exactly what it looked like? No tricks?"

Hakuba snorted. "You have obviously never seen your roommate randomly decide to walk up the wall because it is too much effort to fetch a ladder to replace a dead light bulb. No. No tricks, no traps, no sleight of hand illusions. He did exactly what it looked like. Magic."

"I... see." How did one counter something that re-wrote the rules around you? He was aware of his fingers digging into the palms of his hands and made a conscious effort to relax.

Hakuba politely gave him a moment, turning his attention to the sleeping man on his lap, running his hands through the dark strands of Kuroba's hair, messing it up and then attempting to smooth it out again. Kuroba's face lay mostly in shadow, partly concealed by Hakuba's arm. 

"He's the Kaitou Kid, isn't he?" Conan commented quietly. He knew that face. The evidence backed it up as well.

"-The Kaitou Kid is dead." The British detective's voice held a note of quiet finality. 

Conan scowled at the blond. "They never found the body." Hakuba should know that as well. 

"The Kaitou Kid is dead." Hakuba repeated, looking up to meet Conan's gaze with weary, almost haunted expression. "I saw him die."

Out of all the things for Hakuba to say, that was definitely at the bottom of the list. "What?!" Conan snapped. "Why didn't you tell the police?! Did you get the people who did it?!" 

"Edogawa..." Hakuba sighed, impatiently brushing the blond fringe out of his face. "... He killed himself." 

For a moment, Conan thought he had misheard what Hakuba had said. But the sad, almost sympathetic look on the blond's face left little room for debate. "No."

The Kaitou Kid wasn't supposed to be -dead-. Not for real. He was supposed to be laying low for a while, like he had last time he had disappeared, and then appear again, the ultimate challenge, contest of wits. 

Had he been wrong? Kuroba wasn't the Kid? The evidence was circumstantial at best, Hakuba chased the Kid, Hakuba chased Kuroba, both Kuroba and the Kid looked like Kudo Shin'ichi. Kuroba and Kid were the only people he knew who could pull off magical stunts like they did. 

-if he accepted that magic was real and not just some sort of fancy trick. Even this house, there could be mirrors or secret passages that Hakuba could have slipped through to come up behind him like he had. 

It still didn't explain what Kuroba had done, saving them from that explosion. That was more than tricks and traps. Physical evidence couldn't be altered by mirrors.

"Why?" He finally demanded, nails biting into the palms of his hands, his knuckles turning white. When he had last seen Hakuba and Kuroba, they had been capturing Vermouth, planning something to do with the Black Organisation. He'd gotten word back a few days later through Hattori that they were both fine and that neither of them had to worry about the men in black chasing after them any more. 

Hakuba sighed, looking tired. "The Kaitou Kid had been searching for something the Black Organisation wanted, which was why they were chasing him. I eventually discovered what it was, which made me a target for them as well. He found it. And with some assistance from Kuroba, the Kid either hid or destroyed it, beyond their ability to find it. Without it, they had no reason to continue to hunt us."

"And they didn't kill you?" Conan asked suspiciously. That didn't sound like the people he knew. 

"We all had to give up something in return for our freedom. In addition to not having anything to do with them or attempting to track them down again." Hakuba leaned his head against the headboard. "Have you ever heard of 'The Tale of the Magi', Edogawa?"

"It's a story. A poor newly wedded couple want to give each other the perfect Christmas present. She cuts off her long hair to buy him a chain for his treasured pocket watch, he sells his pocket watch to buy her combs for her long hair. They each give up the thing that mattered most.... oh." Conan stopped, looking at the blond. "You gave up what was most important to you."

"I am no longer a Detective." Hakuba said with quiet dignity. "I can no longer blindly offer my services to assist people." 

Conan winced. To not be able to be a detective any more.... would be like cutting off a limb. "And the Kaitou Kid..."

"Is dead." Hakuba closed his eyes, fingers still carding through Kuroba's hair. Conan repressed a shiver, watching Kuroba's peaceful sleeping face. If Kuroba was the Kid, the Kid was dead, Kuroba could never do that again, -be- that again. He knew how the men in black worked, it wasn't just Hakuba and Kuroba's lives in the balance, it was everyone around them. 

"Wait..." Conan's eyes narrowed as he pondered Hakuba's words. "You said that you can't -offer- to help... But what if someone -asks- you?" 

The slight smug smile he got in return told him that the blond had noticed that loophole as well. He wondered how many other people had figured that out. Probably not many. It might be something to drop into a few people's ears, that Hakuba could help if asked.

Not that he felt incredibly guilty about inadvertently passing around that rumour about Hakuba sleeping with the Kid or anything, but it might make up for it. 

Conan smirked back. "I see." 

Hakuba snorted, expression flickering way from smug. “How are you doing, Edogawa-kun?” Hakuba asked, his expression finally falling in serious. 

He shrugged. “Same as I ever was. Living with Mouri, solving cases.”

”I see.” Hakuba said neutrally. “And your Ran?”

Conan hesitated for a moment, the urge to lie on the tip of his tongue. “She’s doing well.” He finally said. “Going to college now. She moved in with her Mother, it’s closer to school. And she gets to spend ‘girl time’ with Eri.”

It had just about killed him when she announced that she was moving out. He understood it, a chance for Ran to live a normal life, without worrying about people constantly being injured or dropping dead around her. 

But it also meant that she’d given up on him. She called him occasionally, but there were no tears in her voice. She’d moved on, grown up. 

And he was stuck in this body of a child. 

Hakuba made a thoughtful noise, glancing down at Kuroba. “How is it, that every time I see you, you never appear to be any older?” He inquired. 

Conan’s breath caught in his throat as he stared at the blond. “How?” No one else had noticed. He’d heard comments, people thought he was small for his age, or a late bloomer, but no one noticed that he didn’t seem to age at all. 

He got a quirk of the lips in return. “Remember who I live with.” 

”Ah.” Conan swallowed. “Haibara… Ai… She discovered a cure for our ‘little problem’.”

Hakuba straightened. “That’s good news, is it not?”

”The problem is that it is a very –permanent- solution.” He extrapolated. “There is no way for me to return to myself without completely destroying my body. Even the temporary cures no longer work. What once gave me a day as myself barely lasts a half hour.” 

Which meant that he was stuck in this body. He gripped the material of his pants, the fabric bunching in his fists. “Ai… Ai said that apotoxin 4869, the one that shrunk us, has an unexpected side effect other than the shrinking.”

Hakuba made a hissing sound between his teeth. “Immortality?”

Conan snorted. “Not quite. Expanded life span. We’re aging at half the speed of a normal person. According to her, our life span should be twice as long.”

Which meant he would life longer than everyone around him, the Shonen Tantei. Ai had already chosen her path, planning on staying where she was. She was planning on saying she had Turner's Syndrome, where girls stopped growing after reaching the start of puberty. But that didn’t work for him. 

And in the meantime, he was stuck where he was, living with Mouri. The only bright side was now he had his own room in the apartment… Ran’s. But it also meant that he was responsible for cleaning and cooking, since Mouri was helpless at it. 

Even more helpless without Ran there. Both of them were depressed without Ran there. 

Not that he was going to tell –Hakuba- that. 

”I see.” Hakuba nodded. He peered over the edge of his spectacles and for a moment, Conan thought he was going to ask some more questions. But instead he didn’t say anything at all. 

Kuroba let out a soft snore. 

”I should finish what I came here to do.” Hakuba finally said, shifting Kuroba so his head was resting on the pillow again. Kuroba made a noise of protest, one hand flopping out and reaching for the blond detective who was carefully getting up. He leaned down, smoothing Kuroba’s hair away from his face, then kissed the sleeping man's forehead. Conan blinked, then turned away, feeling like an intruder on an obviously tender scene.

”Feel free to stay.” Hakuba said softly. “It will be a few hours before I need to head out and I wouldn’t recommend trying to leave without a guide. There are worse things than the stairs here.” 

Conan nodded. “Thanks.” It felt kind of nice to get away for a little bit, even if it was for a couple of hours. 

Hakuba gave him a slight smile in return and disappeared out the door, leaving him with the sleeping Kuroba. Conan stared at him for a while, distantly marvelling at the level of trust Hakuba was giving him, leaving him with Kuroba at his most defenceless. 

He let his thoughts wander for a bit, then crawled further onto the bed, listening Kuroba breathe and wonder if he’d ever feel complete again. 

-fin-


	11. Waking Up

The thing that bothered Kaito the most when he woke up was the silence. It wasn’t the dark, or the stray thread tickling his nose, it was the lack of noise. 

No noise meant no Saguru. 

This set him on edge, his long trained Kaitou’s instincts scanning for presences that weren’t there. 

But it did tell him where he was. The Red House. His bedroom. In bed. 

Red House meant safety. 

He made the enormous effort of opening his eyes. Still dark. But it was a small flashing light to one side. He blinked slowly, rotating his head to the side. It was his mobile phone. 

Mobile phone reception was rather hit or miss in the Red House. Saguru theorised that they were in a kid of ‘dead zone’ for phone signals. Which was sometimes useful when Baaya was stalking ‘Guru again. 

He reached out, his arm flopping gracelessly off the side of the mattress. Kaito left it there for a second, gathering energy for a second attempt. This time he managed to get his fingers on the mobile. He lay there, staring at it for a moment, before he remembered move his fingers to grab the phone. 

Kaito stared at it for a moment, forgetting what he was doing. Then he retracted his arm, laying the phone on his chest. Okay. Got phone. 

Now what?

He lifted the phone up, opening it. The light blinded him, it taking several moments for his eyes to adjust. Saguru had left him a voice message. He pressed speed dial, dropping his arm, the phone landing close enough to his ear. 

One ring. Two. “Kaito?” Saguru’s sleep rough voice questioned. 

Kaito swallowed. “’Guru.” 

”You’re awake.” The relief was evident in Saguru’s tone. “It’s been almost four days.”

Little longer than last time. “Sorry.”

Saguru sighed. “You did what you had to do.” He said with weary fondness. Kaito smiled to himself. He had a good boyfriend. 

”There’s tea on the bedside if you can drink it. Aoko will be by in the morning to check on you.” Saguru continued, his tone brisk and professional. 

”Alright.” The word was insolent in his mouth, his energy level already fading away, sending him back to sleep. 

”I’ll see you soon.” Saguru promised him. “Sleep well, Kaito. Thank you for calling.”

”Welcome, ‘Guru.” Kaito mumbled, barely remembering to press the ‘end’ button before he faded out completely. 

When he woke up again, it was still quiet, but it wasn’t dark anymore. The world was the dusky shades of early morning. 

He glanced over and spotted the up of tea Saguru had mentioned. He debated moving to get it, then went back to sleep.

The third time Kaito woke up, it was because someone was sitting next to him, shifting him to the side. “Morning, sleepyhead.” Aoko sing-sang. 

He groaned in response. Not ready to get up. Nope, nope nope, not at all. She stroked the hair from his face with a warm hand. “Saguru-kun warned me that you would still be tired, but we need to get some more fluids into you.” Aoko informed him, not unkindly. 

He opened a bleary eye at her. She smiled, holding up a bottled energy drink, with a straw sticking almost comically out of it. “Drink.”

It as on the tip of his tongue to refuse, but she was right. He meekly took the straw and sucked on it, taking small sips of the sweet fluid, forcing his throat to swallow it down. He got some of it down, then had to pause to breathe. 

”I’m glad to see you awake.” Aoko informed him, waiting with more patience that he usually gave her for. “If you weren’t up by this afternoon, I got Saguru agree to help me take you to the hospital and get an IV in you.” 

Kaito made a face. He had nothing against hospitals on principal, but the buzz from all the electronics were annoying. That, and he didn’t want to be touted as a medical mystery for energy drain. 

That and it was unlikely that the Red House would let him get dehydrated enough to make him need to go to hospital. 

”Saguru-kun said that you were like this for almost a week last time.” Aoko continued and he shook his head. She gave him a confused look. 

”Longer.” He said quietly. It would have lasted quite a bit longer if he hadn’t gotten a bit of ‘magic elixir’. Saguru still didn’t know that they’d drunk some of Pandora’s tears. And that wasn’t going to happen this time around. For one thing, he no longer had Pandora at hand. 

She gave him a strange look, but continued on. “I called your work and said that you’d been in an accident and would be out for a while. I said I was your sister, if that’s okay.”

He gave her a thumbs up. Perfect. Aoko smiled in response and offered him the straw again. He took a few more small sips, then waved the rest off. 

”Saguru-kun will be by this afternoon after classes.” Aoko informed him, setting the bottle on the nightstand, apparently unsurprised by this. “He said you’d sleep a lot.”

”Yeah.” Kaito agreed with a small smile. “Thanks.”

”Welcome.” She leaned forward, pressing her forehead against his. “I’ll see you later.” 

He made a humming sound, then faded back to sleep. 

Saguru was sitting next to him in bed, glasses on the edge of his nose as he a thick tome of something or another, one of his hands resting on Kaito’s head. “Hey.” Kaito murmured, gaining his boyfriend’s attention. 

He got a soft smile in return. “I’m glad you are returning to us.” Saguru murmured softly, brushing the hair out of Kaito’s face. “I was beginning to become extremely worried.”

”Moved more this time.” Kaito shifted, turning so he could drape an arm over Saguru’s leg. Last time he’d teleported the two of them several hundred miles. This time he’d just moved things a few metres, but it had been a hell of a lot more mass than just two people. 

”Yes.” Saguru nodded. “I’d wondered about energy conversation and ratios, if you hadn’t siphoned some energy from the momentum of the falling structure.”

Kaito shrugged one shoulder. “Dunno.” It wasn’t as if he’d been doing a lot of thinking at the time, merely reacting. Things tended to… flow better when he didn’t think. “What’d I miss?”

”Edogawa stopped by. He wanted to check on you.” Saguru set the book down. “He’s the first one to find you, but others have been looking. Congratulations, it’s a Media Spectacle.” And no white capes or monocles to be seen. 

”Sorry.” He mumbled. He hadn’t meant to shove himself back in the spotlight. There’d been the explosion, a cry for help and he’d reacted. He hadn’t been thinking about consequences at the time. 

”Do not worry about it.” Saguru smiled. “Other than Edogawa and Mum’s side of the family, no one has recognised us.” 

Mum’s side of the family… Kaito gripped Saguru’s thigh hard, adrenaline flushing through him as he propped himself up on his other arm, half-sitting up. “Are…” He couldn’t figure out how to phrase it, if they were mad, if he and Saguru were in trouble. If they needed to grab everyone and throw them into the house and pray that they couldn’t be found. 

”They are not unhappy with us.” Saguru assured him, a hand gently easing him back down onto the bed. Not happy, Kaito read between the lines. But not displeased either. “It was not their doing. According to the investigation it looks to be a bit of corporate espionage, clumsily meant to look like a gas line exploding. It was co-incidence that Edogawa and company stumbled upon it. In the meantime, I have fielded a few amused phonecalls from Mum, Auntie Sharon, and Shiho about ‘Knights in White Satin’.”

”It’s silk.” Kaito grumpily corrected, allowing himself to slump back on the bed, the energy already starting to fade. ”And that seems to happen a lot with Edogawa.” Kaito mused. That guy had the darnest luck. Luck that was going to get him or those around him killed very very messily one of these days unless something was done. 

”Yes.” Saguru said, a slight hesitation in his voice. Kaito raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend. “… We had a bit of a talk.” Saguru commented reluctantly. 

”And?”

”I will tell you when you are more awake.” Saguru said, stroking the bridge of Kaito’s nose from right between the eyebrows. As if on cue, Kaito yawned, his jaw popping at the motion. “It is one that may require a bit more processing power than you currently have, luv.” His tone was apologetic. 

”… Fuck.” Kaito grumbled, feeling the tendrils of sleep already reaching up and pulling him under. He hated being this tired. While logically he knew that a balance had to be kept, a price to be paid, it was still really highly annoying. 

”Also later.” Saguru’s voice was almost prim sounding in suppressed amusement. 

“Meh.” Kaito shifted around so he was curled around his boyfriend. They didn’t get enough time to just curl up like this anymore. The bed didn’t smell enough like Saguru either. 

He kept his grumblings to himself however as he drifted off again. Saguru had enough he was worrying about right now without adding Kaito’s whinging to the list. 

Kaito woke up again briefly later, when Aoko came to visit, drank some juice and went back to sleep, lulled by their soft voices bantering back and forth. 

It was daylight again when he woke up, feeling more energetic. And with his bladder protesting. He glanced down and found the fire cat-fox spirit curled up on his stomach, which accounted for some of the pressure. 

The cat-fox spirit yawned at him and disappeared. But he still had to pee. He figured this was an improvement and rolled out of bed. 

Which was mostly a mistake. He quickly grabbed the bed for balance, waiting until he could stand upright again. 

And the toilet was on the upstairs floor. Kaito closed his eyes and briefly wished that either Saguru or Aoko were here to help. He hated himself briefly for that weakness, but there was nothing he could do about it. 

Unless he wanted to pee in the bottle. 

That got him moving. No. Just… no. For one thing, he’d have the humiliation of one of the other two having to deal with that. 

He wobbled unsteadily over to the door, leaning against the doorframe for a moment, debating which was the bigger pressure... sleep or bladder. 

Bladder and dignity won. He opened the door. 

And stepped out of his workroom on the second floor. Right across from the toilet. 

”I love you.” He announced to the house. “I really, honestly, sincerely love you.”

He staggered across the laundry area to the door leading to the loo as fast as he could, one hand holding on to the wall. The door opened easily under his hand and he stepped inside, the door shutting behind him. With a groan of relief, he propped himself up against the side wall and took care of business. 

It belatedly dawned on him that the trousers he was wearing were not the jeans he’d been wearing a few days ago. Someone had dressed him in a pair of soft fuzzy flannel sleep pants. He hoped it was Saguru.

He hoped Saguru had gotten a bit of groping in. If not, he’d take care of that when he saw Saguru next. 

Bladder happily empty, pulled his pants up, flushed the toilet and washed his hands. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror above the sink and winced. He looked slightly better than death warmed over. He’d definitely lost some weight and there dark circles under his eyes that he doubted that he could even get make-up to completely hide. 

He glanced away, opening the door and stumbling out of the small room. New plan. Did he go back down stairs and curl up in the living room, or did he think about getting clean?

Kaito lifted an arm and sniffed at his armpit. 

Clean. Definitely clean. Ew. 

He leaned against the wall as he made his way into the bathroom, which was fortunately the door next door. The room was blessedly warm, the cover to the bathtub off and he could see wisps of steam drift through the air. “Oh, bless you.” He said outloud, patting the wall as he stepped inside, already pushing his pants off. “Got tired of my stink too?”

The house didn’t answer, but then he hadn’t really expected it to. He wobbly stepped out of his pyjamas and sat down hard on one of the bathing stools. Yeah. He was going to be in here for a while. 

He turned on the shower, sitting there and letting the warm water sluice over him for a while. It felt good and he closed his eyes, relaxing for a moment or two before reaching for the shampoo. Scrubbing his hair was more work than he wanted to do, but he didn’t want to soak without getting clean first. 

He let the shampoo sit for a moment as he grabbed the soap and washed the rest of himself, wishing Saguru was here. It was a lot more fun taking a bath with two people. To have someone to scrub your back. 

Soon. Maybe. Possibly. Kaito sighed. Saguru had responsibilities. The blond was trying to juggle mending bridges with his father, going to school, figuring out his citizenship, and playing the role of a dutiful son the best he could. 

Well, the role of a dutiful son who was sneaking off to spend time with an ex-international thief. Thank goodness for small favours. 

Kaito rinsed his hair, letting the hot water wash away the soap. He had dropped a few hints about Saguru moving in with him, but he didn’t think Saguru was ready to give up on his father yet. 

He sighed, then turned off the shower, levering himself to his feet. Problems for another time. 

The bath sang a siren’s call and he answered it, carefully climbing inside and sitting down, stretching out until the hot water reached his chin. Bliss…

-He woke up abruptly to Saguru’s bellow of his name echoing through the house. “Up here!” He called back, moving his lethargic limbs. He hadn’t realised he’d fallen asleep at all. 

It wasn’t hard to miss Saguru’s approach, he sounded like a heard of hyped up cats playing Wildebeests Stampeding Across the Serengeti. “Kaito?!” Saguru shouted as he threw open the door, dashing inside. He slipped on the wet floor, arms flailing for balance as he barely avoided falling down. 

”Yo.” Kaito raised a hand in greeting, hiding his amusement the best he could. Saguru stared at him for a moment, then practically deflated. 

”You weren’t in the bedroom.” Saguru explained, some of the wildness leaving his expression. 

”I had to use the loo.” Kaito said, just a bit contritely. He hadn’t thought about Saguru’s reaction to coming home and finding him missing. Especially after talk about Mum’s side of the family. “Sorry.”

Saguru shook his head. “No, no. You’re fine.” Saguru hastened to assure him with a shaky smile. “I guess my imagination ran away with me for a bit.” 

Kaito smiled back. “Mine does that too, sometimes.” They’d both spent enough time on the run that various survival traits ran too close to the surface sometimes. 

He got a more genuine smile this time as Saguru straightened, smoothing out his clothing. “Aoko should be here shortly. We should get you back down stairs before she comes to the same conclusion that I did.” 

Kaito snickered to himself. The conclusion that Aoko would come to was not the same one Saguru would. “I didn’t bring anything up with me.” He apologised, raising a dripping arm. 

”Pants and a robe?” Saguru offered. 

Kaito nodded. “Please.” 

Saguru gave him a little mock bow and a more sincere smile as he walked out the door. Kaito draped his arms over the edge of the tub, watching him leave. He hoped that the house didn’t give him too hard of a time getting downstairs and back. 

And that Saguru took off those wet socks. Poor Saguru. 

Kaito took advantage of the quiet to stretch, feeling much better than he had previously. Soaking in the tub had been just what he needed. He braced his hands on the side of the tub and climbed out, holding on to the wall for a bit of balance and was pleased to see he didn’t need it quite as much this time around. 

He grabbed one of the spare towels folded by the door and started drying off. He was about half-way done when Saguru returned, opening the door without a second thought. It was a perfect comedy moment, Saguru staring at him with wide round eyes, Kaito frozen as he stared back. 

Then Saguru coughed, straightening. “You’ve lost weight.” He chided, his cheeks blushing to an delightful shade of pink as he held out the robe and the pyjama pants. 

”Some.” Kaito agreed, draping the towel around his neck and taking the offered pants. Saguru shifted and looked away, much to Kaito’s amusement. It wasn’t as if Saguru hadn’t seen him naked before. His boyfriend was a huge adorable dork. “Thanks.” He said as he settled the waistband around his hips. 

Saguru’s gaze flickered over at him, then he moved to hold the robe out for Kaito to slip his arms into. “You’re quite welcome.” Saguru said warmly, wrapping the robe around Kaito as he put his arms into the sleeves. Kaito smiled, leaning up to kiss his boyfriend on the cheek. He would have kissed Saguru on the lips, but it’d been longer since he’d brushed his teeth than it had been for him to take a bath. 

”I’m doing better.” He said, taking Saguru’s arm as the blond offered it, letting Saguru escort him out of the bathroom and down the stairs. He felt a little stupidly weak at doing so, but he wasn’t completely sure he could handle the stairs on his own. He probably could, but why take the chance? “Soaking helped.”

”I’m glad.” Saguru gave him a pleased look. “You seem to be recovering a bit slower this time.” 

”Maybe.” Kaito agreed with a sigh. Noooo talking about Pandora to Saguru. Although... He wondered what effect the moonlight might have on them. “So what’s this about Edogawa?”

”Ah.” Saguru helped him around the landing. “He’s not ageing.” 

Oh. That. “I noticed.” Although honestly, he hadn’t been sure if that had been his imagination or not. His reality being questionable and all that, compared to others. 

Saguru gave him a questioning look and Kaito shrugged in return. “Okay.” Saguru drawled, then filled him Edogawa’s drug problems. Kaito wasn’t sure if he felt sorry for Edogawa or not. People always talked about a long life like it was a good thing, but in Edogawa’s case, it also meant not only going through puberty for a second time, but one that lasted twice as long. 

He was grateful when they made it into the living room, Kaito not so much sitting down as falling down at the table. He was doing better, but the stairs were still enough to wipe him out. Saguru fussed in the kitchen, heating up water. “How’s classes?”

”I left my notebook for maths class behind yesterday.” Saguru grimaced. “I got it back today.”

”So why the face?”

”It had several phone numbers in it.” Saguru said with a great deal of dry dignity. “Written in glitter pen. And hearts. And I’m not entirely certain that all of the phone numbers were for women.”

Kaito laughed. His boyfriend, breaking hearts everywhere. He felt something shift in the house and paused. “Aoko’s here.” He announced, tilting his head to the side. 

”Perfect timing.” Saguru didn’t appear to find anything strange with Kaito’s statement as he pulled out a third mug and set it on the counter. 

”What are you making?” Kaito straightened to see what Saguru was fiddling with.

”Hot chocolate.”

”I love you.” Kaito said reverently. “In a completely and utterly non-platonic fashion.” 

Saguru laughed, ducking his head slightly. Which was how Aoko found them when she opened the door. “Kaito!” She squealed, plopping down on the ground next to him and throwing her arms around him. He laughed, hugging her back. “You must be doing better, if you’re making Saguru-kun blush.” 

”Just a bit.” Kaito agreed. He’d be crashing here shortly, but he had some time to spend with his favourite people first. 

-fin-


	12. Haven

+++

”Yo, Tantei-kun.” With that scant warning, Conan found himself lifted up into the air and set up on a shoulder, a hand on the back of his thigh keeping him steady. Conan stared at the stunned faces of the Shonen Tantei as he was carried away.

”Conan-kun!” Ayumi’s voice shrilled as she pulled her backpack off her shoulder, getting ready to swing it at the back of his assailant’s knees. One of the many lessons the Shonen Tantei knew from their association with him… How to make things at hand into weapons to counter their lack of size and strength. 

”Hold on!” He waved her off, twisting to see his kidnapper’s face. “What are you doing?”

”Kidnapping you.” Kuroba never broke stride, answering easily, as if he kidnapped children off the street every day. “I’ll return you later.”

Conan gave it a brief thought. Hang out with Kuroba or get dragged to the arcade with the kids. Tough choice. 

”I’m good.” He called back, waving them off as he draped himself over Kuroba’s shoulder again. “I’ll see you later.” 

”Are you sure?” Mitsuhiko faltered. 

”Yeah.” He relaxed. Well, as much as he could relax with his ribs and stomach being compressed against Kuroba’s bony shoulder. Did the guy never eat? “Later.” 

The Shonen Tantei watched him go with hang-dog expressions until Kuroba disappeared around a corner with him. Well, they all watched him except for Haibara, who glared at him like he was abandoning her to the lion cubs. 

”So.” Kuroba drawled. “How’s life treating you?” 

”Eh.” He shrugged wearily. “Same old, same old. Haven’t been kidnapped by a wandering magician for a while, guess I was overdue. You?”

”Can’t complain.” Kuroba said, placid to the point of sleepy. Which made sense, since the last time was a week and a half ago and the guy was comatose. 

”You’re looking better.” Conan commented. 

”Thanks.” Kuroba gave his thigh a small squeeze. “Did a little moonbathing, felt better for it.” 

… Moonbathing?

He was distracted by the sound of a slightly rusty hinge opening and glanced to the side, surprised to find himself being carried through the gate that marked the boundary of Kuroba’s residence. 

He’d had to catch a train and walk for a while before he got to Kuroba’s house last time. There was no way that they’d covered a half-hour long trip in less than five minutes. 

And yet, here they were in Kuroba’s garden. In Ekoda. 

What the fuc… 

”Home sweet home.” Kuroba said easily as he opened the door, casually shedding his shoes with only the barest hitch in his step. Instead of heading up the stairs to the living quarters, he continued forward, past the open foyer and through the door on the opposite side. He twisted around to look. It was a library, not quite as big or as impressive as his father’s, but still a good sized collection of books. 

It was somewhat of a surprise to find himself suddenly lifted up and placed on a large comfortable reading chair that was resting in a beam of sunlight from the open windows. There was a small table next to the chair, holding a stack of books. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edogawa Ranpo, Agatha Christie, Ono Fuyumi, Dorothy L. Sayers. A steaming cup of hot chocolate, smelling thick and bitter-sweet, and a plate with a few pieces of mochi were waiting for him as well. 

”Um.” He stared at the books and the treat. 

”Backpack.” Kuroba held his hand out. Conan gave him a wary look, then slipped his backpack off and handing it over. Kuroba nodded, hefting it over his shoulder. “Drink. Eat. Read. I’ll be back in couple of hours.” 

”I…” Conan blinked, looking at the books. “You kidnapped me for this?” 

He got a ‘well, duh’ expression back. “I’ll be upstairs. Shout if you need me.” Kuroba said, with a wave, walking out of the room, taking Conan’s backpack with him. 

Conan stared after him. 

Kuroba had to be the –weirdest- person he knew. Seriously. 

He listened as Kuroba took the stairs, the old building groaning slightly with every footfall, then listened to the footsteps above him. Kuroba walked around for a minute or two, then settled down, falling into silence. 

Conan took a deep breath, smelling sawdust and the faint scent of cedar, almost like incense. Kuroba working on the house again? 

He sat there for a moment, relishing the in the need not to do anything for a moment. It seemed like he was so busy lately, the Shonen Tantei, taking care of Mouri, juggling school and cases, he was never still anymore. 

He shook it off after a moment, reaching for the stack of books and grabbing one of Ono Fuyumi’s 12 Kingdom novels and began to read. He’d been meaning to try these for a while, but there were always other things going on. After a while, he nibbled on a mochi, drinking it down with the hot chocolate. It was mostly unsweetened, almost bitter. 

Somehow, the fact that Kuroba knew he didn’t like sweet things was a bit of a surprise. A pleasant one, but still a surprise. 

It was much later when he discovered that he’d fallen asleep, warmed by the sunbeam, the hot chocolate and the books. It was pleasant, just drifting in the grey area of not quite awake. There was something warm pressing against his side that was vibrating, a soft purr filling the space. A cat? He didn’t know Kuroba had one. 

He kicked off his shoes and drifted back to sleep, lulled by the soft presence of the happy creature. 

The gentle sound of a door opening jolted him out of his slumber, head jerking up as he spotted Kuroba, just stepping inside. A blur of orange vanished out of the corner of one eye, the cat taking flight. He was sad to see it go.

”Feeling better?” Kuroba asked, his voice soft, not scornful as Conan stretched, his limbs feeling heavy, relaxed. 

”Yes.” He pushed his glasses higher on his face, surprised to find that he did feel better. “… Thank you.” 

Kuroba simply smiled, hands in his pockets. Conan slipped scrap piece of paper into the pages of the book where he’d left off reading, promising to return back to that world at a later date. He put his shoes back on, then stood up, looking at Kuroba. Kuroba motioned for him to follow with a tilt of his head, then headed back out the door. They paused in the foyer for Kuroba to put on his shoes and for Conan to pick up his backpack and put it on. 

”This is the part you’re gonna hate.” Kuroba informed him, crouching down. “Climb on.”

Conan hesitated. “… Must I?” He hated riding on other people, it was so… awkward. 

”If you would.” Kuroba said, his voice neutral, letting Conan make up his own mind. Conan thought it over a moment longer, then climbed on, arms wrapped around Kuroba’s neck. At least it was a bit more elegant than riding over Kuroba’s shoulder. “Thank you. I’m not up to taking the long route today.” Kuroba said, rising to his feet, hands supporting under Conan’s thighs. The front door opened without Kuroba touching it and they were back out in the overgrown garden. The air was dyed pinks and oranges from the sunset overhead. 

”Pretty.” Conan commented, staring upwards. When was the last time he’d taken the time to look at the sunset? Must have been a while. Kuroba made a humming noise in response as he walked, his head tilted up to watch the sky as well. 

They made their way to the Mouri Residence like that, travelling in silence. It wasn’t so bad, once he got used to it. And no one seemed to notice them as they walked, which made him feel a bit better about being carried. “Here we are.” Kuroba said, crouching down so Conan could slide off. “Thanks for going along with it.”

He wasn’t sure if Kuroba meant being kidnapped, or climbing on for a ride. “Thank you.” He corrected. 

Kuroba simply shrugged and walked away, disappearing as he rounded around a corner. Conan watched the direction he left in for a while, trying to figure out Kuroba’s motives and hitting a blank. 

…What a strange guy…

+++

Two weeks later, he found himself tossed over a shoulder again. He glanced back to make sure it was Kuroba, then relaxed slightly. “Again?”

”Yup.” 

He sighed and waved at the Shonen Tantei. “Sorry guys. Later.” 

Ayumi and Genta made a whinging noise and started running after them. Kuroba turned a corner…

And Conan knew the corner, he knew where it led and that wasn’t where they were. 

”What the hell?”

Kuroba chuckled. “Secret.” 

Conan growled. “I hate you.” 

”I know.” 

+++

A few weeks later, he found himself firmly ensconced in the chair in Kuroba’s library, trying to get through 12 Kingdoms again. As much as he enjoyed the book, he found himself falling asleep every time he curled up in the chair. Not that the naps weren’t welcome, he always felt better for it, but it was kind of annoying. 

He was fighting off a nap again and was for the most part successful when Kuroba appeared. “Hate to do it to you.” Kuroba said apologetically. “But I’ve gotta get you back early tonight.”

”It’s okay.” He was grateful for the respite from his usually frantic life, no matter how long it was.

Kuroba nodded and they did the now usual ritual of getting the shoes on and Conan climbing on Kuroba’s back. He wasn’t sure why it was necessary for him to be carried, but the trip always took a lot less time than expected. And no one seemed to notice the indignity, which soothed his ego a bit. 

And once he relaxed, it was actually kind of comfortable. He didn’t get a lot of physical contact and Kuroba wasn’t exactly loathsome to lean against. 

He snapped out of a half-doze when Kuroba stopped abruptly. “Conan-kun!” Ran’s voice snapped him all the way awake. He looked over Kuroba’s shoulder to find Ran running towards them. “Are you okay?”

”Sorry, Neechan.” Kuroba was suddenly all smiles. “I’m afraid I wore him out.” 

Ran looked at Kuroba warily. “Kuroba Kaito.” Kuroba said pleasantly, crouching down to let Conan off his back.

”He’s my cousin.” Conan smiled up at Ran, stepping forward, between Ran and Kuroba. “Hi, Ran-neechan.” 

Ran gave Kuroba another odd look, pulling Conan away. “Are you sure you’re okay?” She hissed, kneeling down so they were eye level. “The Shonen Tantei called me, said this strange guy kept ‘kidnapping’ you.”

Conan laughed. It took a moment to realise there was an edge of hysteria to it. “No, no no.” He waved it off. It was kind of sad to realise that these visits to Kuroba’s were one of the few things that were currently keeping him sane. “I’m fine, I’m fine. He’s just got a… strange sense of humour.”

”And a date I’m late for.” Kuroba added, looking at his watch. “I gotta got if I’ve got a hope of getting lucky tonight.” 

Conan blushed. “I didn’t need to know that!!!” He protested, covering his eyes, but it was too late, the images were in his brain. He’d seen Hakuba and Kuroba in bed before, being sickeningly sweet, even if Kuroba had been out of it at the time. ”Gah!” 

Kuroba laughed. “Shall I tell them ‘Hi’ for you?” He asked fondly. 

”No!” Conan waved him away. “I’ll see you later! And don’t give me any details!” 

Kuroba waved and snickered. “See ya, Tantei-kun. Later, Neechan.” He walked off, disappearing as he stepped around a passer-by. 

Ran gave him another worried look. “Are you sure you’re fine?” 

”Yeah.” Conan nodded. “He’s irritating, but he’s a good guy. His boyfriend’s a bit of an annoying stick in the mud though.” 

It was worth it, to see Ran’s eyes go wide. Conan laughed. 

+++

He had words with the Shonen Tantei the next day, Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta chewing him out for disappearing with strange people. It wasn’t until he pointed out that Kuroba was the one who saved them from the bomb that they stopped shouting. 

Conan ignored them the rest of the day.

Hiabara scolded him for worrying them, for going off with people they didn’t know. It was strange, knowing that they sort of did know the Kaitou Kid, but unable to tell them. 

”I trust him.” Was the only thing he could say. Because even if he still didn’t know Kuroba all that well, he still trusted the Kaitou Kid not to bring him to harm.   
Unfortunately, this didn’t reassure his friends, who kept a protective, almost zealous eye on him, glaring at any strangers who passed nearby. Kuroba stayed away for several weeks. 

+++

It was an accident, him running across Kuroba. He stared at the teen, who had a bag from a local Beika tea shop in his hand. 

He walked up, stopping in front of Kuroba, nearly making the magician stumble over him. 

”Kidnap me.” 

He was aware of the Shonen Tantei staring at him in shock. He ignored them. The whole reason he needed to be kidnapped was to have a chance for some down time away from them. There really was only so much effort he could put into the façade of being a kid before it stretched him too wide. He needed a reprieve, from the Shonen Tantei, the murders, the robberies and the general insanity. “Please.” 

Kuroba looked at him for a moment, his own face blank. “Okay.” He shifted the bag to his arm, holding a hand out. 

Conan hesitated. “It’s not kidnapping if you’re walking.” Kuroba said, with just a hint of an annoying smirk. Conan snorted. 

”True.” He admitted, taking Kuroba’s hand and let the larger man swing Conan up on to his back, piggy-back style. “Later, guys.” He waved, curling up against Kuroba’s back and relaxing. 

“You could just show up.” Kuroba offered. 

”I’ll remember that.” Conan nodded, starting to drift off, lulled by the motion and warmth of Kuroba. 

It was always nice to know he had a safe harbour if he needed it. 

+++


	13. Spirited Home

+++

”-In Heels, BACKWARDS.” Kaito exclaimed as they walked home. 

Saguru laughed, throwing the end of the scarf Aoko had knit for him over his shoulder. “Alright, I’ll concede that point to you. Ginger Rogers is a better dancer than Fred Astaire. But I still stand by my comment that the man could dance.”

Kaito grinned back, the comment dying on his lips as noticed two boys in middle school uniform leaning over the side of a bridge that covered a creek. One of them looked alarmed, pointing to something that the other one didn’t seem to see. 

Naturally, both of them leaned over to look as well. Saguru looked at the clear water, the plant life moving in the current. “Do you see her?” Kaito whispered. 

”No…” Saguru questioned.

”You can?!” The boy who’d been pointing turned to look at Kaito in surprise. 

”Yeah.” Kaito nodded. 

”Can you help her?!” The kid asked, desperately. “Please? I can see her, but I don’t think I can reach her. I’m not as strong as my sister is.” 

Kaito frowned, turning grave as he thought it over. It was a request, and neither of them were the type to stand idly by when someone needed their help. “I’ll need some assistance getting back.” Kaito finally nodded. “Anyone have any string, or thread?”

The boys shook their heads. Saguru made a note to start carrying around a sewing kit with spools of thread with him. “Here.” He said, thinking quickly, tugging at the end of his new cream coloured scarf. “We can frog it.”

That earned him some odd looks. “Frog it?” The seeing-boy’s friend echoed. 

Saguru pulled on the yarn, unravelling the yarn. “Rip it, rippit, rippit…” He murmured in embarrassment, belatedly realising that this was a joke that didn’t quite cross the language barrier. Frogs in Japan said ‘Gero’. 

Kaito gave him a small smirk as he took the other end of the soft yarn and wrapped it around his hand and wrist a few times. “Thanks, ‘Guru. Be back in a few.” 

His boyfriend performed a lovely flip over the waist-high barrier on the side of the bridge. Saguru watched as Kaito hit the water feet first… and disappeared. It was quite a disturbing visual, considering that the water appeared to be less than knee-deep. 

”Wow.” The seeing boy murmured, eyes wide. He could probably see what Kaito was doing, while all Saguru could do was shift the scarf and watch the speed at which it unravelled, the cream turning a dark tan as it disappeared under the water. 

It was strange… Saguru squinted, staring over the tops of his glasses at the water. As the dark green plants swayed, it sometimes looked like there were inky strands of human hair mixed in. Or the occasional limb, a cold pale hand appearing inbetween the ripples of the water. It was easy enough to dismiss as a trick of the eye, even as Saguru feared it wasn’t. 

Someone was down there, someone that he couldn’t see properly, but that Kaito and this other boy could. 

Time seemed to stretch out forever as they watched. Saguru was starting to get worried that they would run out of scarf when suddenly, the string went lax, no longer unraveling. 

Then two sharp tugs on the yarn, before it went lax again. 

”Pull!” Saguru ordered, grabbing the pale yarn and hauling it upward as fast as he could. The boy who could see jumped into action, hands fumbling with Saguru’s as they pulled the string back up. It was like a tug of war, there was no way a twisted piece of yarn could hold the weight of two bodies, but there was definite –weight- at the end of it, making his muscles burn with the unexpected strain. 

”I think they’re almost up!” The boy said breathlessly, his hands as red and raw as Saguru’s from the friction and the fibre of the yarn. 

Then Kaito was breaking the surface of the water, gasping for breath. He floundered, flailing for a second before making his way to shore, a woman just a little older than they were in his grasp. “Call an ambulance!” Kaito shouted, sputtering and coughing as his feet hit solid ground. 

”You.” Saguru pointed to the non-seeing boy. “Call 110.” 

The boy nodded, fumbling with a mobile as he did so. Saguru ignored him, running to the side of the bank and down to the water. He grabbed Kaito’s arm, supporting his boyfriend before taking the woman from him, both of them staggering up the slanted ground to the even ground next to the street, the water clinging to Kaito and the woman like it didn’t want to let them go.

”You okay?” He asked, sparing Kaito a glance as he checked the woman over. She was bleeding from an abdominal wound and he put pressure on it, oozing blood staining his hands red. 

”M’fine.” Kaito assured him, flipping over to sit down. He coughed again, spitting some water off to the side. “There was a f-fish.”

”Ah.” Saguru nodded. At which, Kaito had probably promptly panicked and flailed, breathing in water. “Catch your breath, I’ve got her.”

Kaito nodded, coughing again. 

The seeing-boy walked over. “Ambulance is on its way.” He said, crouching down next to them. “Is she okay?”

”She was either shot or stabbed.” Kaito wheezed. “Think she’s friendly though, the water was keeping her alive.” 

How that worked, Saguru did not know. But the seeing-boy nodded, like it made perfect sense. “Thank you.” He said, looking at the woman, who was breathing shallowly. She looked like she could have been asleep. Saguru frowned, looking at her clothes. White blouse, narrow grey skirt, hose, no shoes. Office worker? 

”I’m Shouta.” The boy said abruptly, as if remembering his manners. “Higurashi Shouta.” 

”Higurashi? Like the shrine?” Saguru questioned. There was a shrine nearby that was rumoured to have an ancient sacred tree with real power. 

”My family’s.” Shouta nodded. No wonder the boy could see what Saguru could not, if he came from a family of shrine keepers. 

”Hakuba Saguru.” Saguru nodded. “And this is Kuroba Kaito. Pleasure to make your acquaintance.” 

Kaito coughed and waved in greeting. 

Shouta stared at him. “Weren’t you on the news recently? You had scarves, and were saving people from a bomb…” He trailed off, as if catching himself. Kaito smirked, saved from saying anything by the sound of sirens. 

”Something like that.” Kaito flashed a smile, glossing over it. Shouta gave him a gauging look, then nodded. They heard the sounds of the sirens in the background, drawing the boy’s attention away. 

Saguru looked at Kaito, tilting his head, silently inquiring if they wanted to go and Kaito nodded back. The ambulance came to a screeching halt and they both stepped back as the paramedics took over. They collected the yarn and strolled away, Kaito muffling a cough as he did so. 

Shouta caught them at the far end of the bridge. “I owe you.” He said, catching Kaito’s sleeve. “If you need anything, you know where to find me.”

Kaito gave him a smile. “Thanks.” The magician nodded back, wrapping his hand around Saguru’s wrist. Saguru gave a polite nod back, the two of them walking down the trail as paramedics moved the woman to a stretcher, loading her into the ambulance. 

+++

Saguru fell backwards into the wingbacked chair he thought of as ‘his’ in the library, with a sigh, feeling tired and worn out. Feeling the height of indulgence, he kicked off his shoes, rubbing his sock covered feet against the burgundy silk Persian rug that covered the floor. He’d found it in the attic of his father’s house, wasting away with a few other antiques and slowly brought them over to furnish the library of the Red House. 

It was kind of amusing, somedays it felt like he had more stuff here than he did where he actually lived. All of his research, his books, even the scrolls on his walls had made their way over to the Red House. Most of what he had left at home was just clothing. 

He stretched, trying to summon up some energy. He had homework to finish, some studying for an upcoming test, and Baaya was making noises to a family dinner again. And all he wanted to do was curl up and take a nap. 

There was a knock on the library door, then Kaito stuck his head inside. “Hey.” 

”Hey.” Saguru smiled at his partner. “What’s up?”

Kaito stared at him for a moment, head tilted to the side. “I’ve been asked to pass on a request.” He said cautiously. “You can refuse if you want.”

”What kind of request?” Saguru inquired, curiosity piqued. 

”Remember the girl in the water?” Kaito said hesitantly. 

Saguru snorted. “Kind of hard to forget.” Especially since they’d just pulled her out the afternoon before.

”I’ve been asked to pass on a request for you to find out who tried to kill her.” Kaito had a strange look on his face. He was nearly expressionless, except for the intensity of his eyes. There was something about Kaito’s expression that sent small shivers down his spine. “Payment in return is a favour owed at a future date.”

”Me? Not you?” He asked, trying to probe out what was going on. 

”I can help, but I’ve been told that it’s a mortal affair, so a mortal has to fix it.” Kaito shrugged, looking away.

”And you don’t count as mortal?” Saguru’s eyebrows rose. 

Kaito shrugged, his expression shifting just a bit, allowing Saguru to get a glimpse of how disturbed Kaito truly was. He reached out, taking Kaito’s hand in his own and twining their fingers together. “It’s fine.” Saguru said quietly. “It’s all fine.” 

”As long as I don’t think about it.” Kaito gave him a weak grin that made Saguru want to comfort his boyfriend. So he tugged on Kaito’s hand, pulling him closer until Kaito sank down to curl up on Saguru’s lap. 

Doing magic was one thing. Altering the perception of one of your core identities was another. 

Saguru took a deep breath, breathing in the wind-blown scent that never seemed to entirely leave Kaito, even if he hadn’t been flying in months. “Alright. Give me the details. Facts. I want to know what I’m getting into before I agree.” He said quietly. Kaito nodded, twisting slightly to lean his head back against Saguru’s shoulder, his cheek brushing Saguru’s jaw. 

”Ogino Chihiro. Age 24. Environmental engineer, specialising on restoring waterways.” Kaito listed off like he was reading a grocery list. “Lives alone, one long term fiancée, currently unavailable for contact.”

”Normally, I’d say that the boyfriend sound suspicious, but some how I doubt it is that easy.” Saguru commented dryly. Lovers and spouses were sadly the most usual primary suspect. 

”Except that the boyfriend is the one requesting assistance.” Kaito smirked. “And let us just say, metal? Not his thing.” 

Which meant that Chihiro was most likely dating someone who wasn’t human. Hence, a mortal affair. 

”Known enemies?” Saguru inquired. 

Kaito shrugged. “He wasn’t sure.” 

Saguru leaned his head back against the chair, closing his eyes as he thought. “Not a lot to go on. A fair amount of legwork will be required. Is Ogino-san available for interview?”

”I don’t know.” Kaito’s tone was apologetic. “The wound was not shallow, they may have had to do surgery. Aoko would have a better idea.” 

Saguru nodded. He had homework, studies…. And a chance to solve a mystery. It was like an itch under his skin, a craving, an addiction, just waiting for him to succumb to the siren song. He’d been -asked-. 

He took a deep breath, letting it out. ”Yes.” He said, letting the word roll in his mouth. “Yes, I’ll do it.” 

It was a rush, like freedom after being penned in for so long. He usually didn’t mind the constraint placed upon him by his grandmother, but sometimes… it felt like he was atrophying. Fading away, loosing who he was, his own sense of self.

He looked down at Kaito. “Will you help?” 

Kaito leaned up, twisting enough to brush a kiss onto the corner of Saguru’s lips. “Yes.” He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

Saguru let out a soft breath, a foolishly wide grin stretching across his face. “Okay.” 

Homework could wait. They had a mystery to solve. 

+++

Ogino Chihiro, according to her elderly neighbours, was a friendly, polite girl, if a little odd. By all accounts, she was a nice girl and a real asset to the older neighbourhood, a constant smile and a helping hand for whomever needed it, especially for her elders. The local shrine adored her, she was half-way to becoming a miko herself, constantly taking care of the small local shrines, discovering ones that had had been forgotten for ages. 

But she had the oddest habit of talking to –things-. The river, trees, animals, even dust bunnies. 

More worrisome, they seemed to talk back. One gossipy old woman added that there was a rumour that Chihiro-chan had been stolen away by the spirits when she was younger, then laughed as if it was the most ridiculous thing ever. 

Kaito had laughed with her and Saguru managed a pained smile. 

She lived right on the local river, her old house leaning into water as if it were about to slide in at any moment, and was often seen after work dangling her feet in the river, watching the water go by. Any chance she got, the local townspeople laughed, she was in the water, constantly soaking wet. 

A co-worker who was buying groceries while they were doing their interviews was much more helpful as far as motives. A local river had been dammed up about 20 years ago to build houses on. Unfortunately, due to some bad engineering, this left a lot of water with nowhere to go, and they’d been forced to tear down the houses and un-dam the river, which flowed through the centre of the town. 

A few months prior, the fish in the river started dying, prompting concern and investigation from Chihiro and her co-workers. They’d discovered a paper factory illegally dumping chemicals into the river rather than disposing of them properly, and attempted to report it. 

Attempted, because they’d been visited by Yakuza members who were making a profit and had no wish for that profit to be cut into. They’d received dire threats if they’d tried to report what was going on. 

Chihiro had ignored the threats. She’d been missing for almost two months. The police had stopped by, asking questions and knocking on doors, but their investigation went nowhere and was quickly abandoned. 

Saguru had a bad feeling he knew why. 

+++

They were not allowed into the hospital room to see Chihiro. She was under investigation, and as such, was under guard. 

Saguru growled softly to himself and asked Kaito for a favour, if there was anyway for the magician to get them inside to see her. Kaito thought about it for a moment, glanced around, then motioned for Saguru to follow him, to the door of the janitor’s closet. 

The door opened up into a hospital room, a single occupant laying there behind a curtain. No nurses, no security guards. “Hope I got the room right.” Kaito muttered as they stepped closer. 

”I believe you did.” Saguru whispered back, glancing at the name on the wrist band. Ogino Chihiro. She looked better than she had in the water, although it did seem a little strange, seeing her dry. Kaito picked up the clipboard at the foot of her bed, idly flipping through it. His eyes landed on a page, going wide for a moment before letting out a muted mad cackle and ripping a page out before passing the clipboard to Saguru. 

He skimmed the reports. Single gunshot wound to the abdomen, surprising little damage, all that had been required was removing the bullet and stitching the injury up, there had been no tissue damage around the impact area. No complications, but they had her on a full spectrum of antibiotics to prevent infection. 

”Bullet, not a knife.” He reported, handing the clipboard back to Kaito. 

”Hard to heal injuries around iron.” Kaito shrugged, placing the clipboard back. Saguru got the feeling that if it had been a knife wound, there wouldn’t have been a problem. 

Saguru looked over the woman again, as Kaito stepped forward, resting a gentle hand on her belly, a slight grin on is face. A glint out of the corner of his eye from her wrist on the side farthest from Saguru caught his attention. “What’s that?” He asked, the glimmer fading as he tried to look at it full on. 

Kaito tilted his head, picking up her wrist. “It’s a hairband.” He commented in surprise. “Shiny purple, kinda pretty.” Kaito brushed it with a fingertip, then yanked his head back. “Protection charm.” He reported, shaking his probably tingling hand as he set her hand back down. “Made by someone old, and strong. Lot of emotions wrapped up in that one. Powerful love and friendship. Anything not human would have a hard time getting past it.” 

”A mortal affair.” Saguru murmured to himself. 

Kaito looked around the room, staring at things that Saguru couldn’t see, before shoving his hands in his pockets and looking at Saguru, waiting patiently. “You good?” 

”I think so.” Saguru nodded. “I believe it’s time to meet my employer, if you’d be so kind to organise a meeting.”

Kaito tilted his head to the side, reading some of Saguru’s tension. “The sooner the better?”

”Most likely.” 

+++

"You..." Kaito grinned as he wobbled slightly on the uneven surface a few hours later, the glow of the sunset bathing Kaito in red and gold. "...Have GOT to try this, 'Guru."

"No, thank you." Saguru eyed his partner’s antics warily as they waited for their mysterious contact to show up. It probably would work, as long as they were holding hands or were in close physical proximity. "…. I am fairly certain it is against my religion." 

Kaito shot him a puzzled look. "I thought you were ah... a... egg-something or another."

"Agnostic, yes." One of Saguru's eyebrows rose. "However, I believe Mum would not appreciate the connotations. How is your Ichthyophobia?"

"I'm fine." Kaito cackled gleefully. "They're down there and I'm up here!"

A fish jumped out of the water with a splash, snapping at a bug not a metre away from where Kaito was standing. 

"... 'Guru?"

"Yes?"

Kaito carefully turned around, the only sign of his nervousness being the tiny ripples in the water around his feet as he walked back across the surface of the water. "Stay right where you are, I'm coming back." 

Saguru very pointedly did not laugh. It was tempting, and while he was pretty sure that Kaito could read the muted laughter on his face, the effort was enough. 

He offered his hand to Kaito, who took it as he jumped onto solid ground. “Thanks.” Kaito murmured and Saguru briefly wondered if Kaito meant for the hand or for not laughing, then decided that it really didn’t matter. He nodded in response, briefly squeezing Kaito’s hand before releasing it. 

”How long before our employer gets here?” He asked as he glanced around. A remote bend of a river was a slightly worrisome place to meet. Where as he could understand a need for secrecy, the isolation was slightly worrisome. 

”Should be soon.” Kaito shrugged, glancing around. “In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if he was here already.” The magician paused, making an odd sort of expression. “... I may have stepped on his face.” 

The burble of the river suddenly sped up, sounding like laughter. There was a loud splash, then Kaito’s eyes opened wide, a grin stretching across his face. “And there he is!” 

Saguru stared, trying to see what Kaito was looking at. “What?” He finally inquired. There was something there from the rapt look on Kaito’s face, but he couldn’t see it. 

Kaito gave him a round-eyed look of surprise, quickly followed by a calculating expression. “Let me see your glasses a sec.” He said, reaching out and pulling the glasses off Saguru’s face. The world went blurry, and he could hear the ‘Hah’ as the smear that was Kaito breathed on something. 

As suddenly as the world went blurry, it was clear again, Kaito quickly but carefully replacing the glasses on Saguru’s face. “Thank you.” Saguru muttered dryly, pressing them higher on his face as he glanced around, an instinctive visual check that everything was still where it had been before the world went blurry.

And then did a half-step backwards as he finally saw what Kaito had been looking at. 

Dragon. Very long and skinny, the head bigger than a horses’ looking down at him with what almost looked like an amused smirk on its face. The long body disappeared into the water, as if the water had simply decided to extend a limb that was a solid dragon. “Oh.” Saguru said. “Hello.” 

If anything, the smirk grew wider. Long pointy teeth. 

”Greetings.” The words were faint, like a whisper in his ear. 

”’Guru, meet Chihiro’s fiancée, the Kohaku River.” Kaito smiled. “Kohaku, this is my partner, Hakuba Saguru.” 

Saguru bowed, amusement flickering as the dragon lowered his long neck in a polite bow as well. “I understand you have things to report.” The voice was lighter than he expected. 

”Indeed.” Saguru cleared his throat. “The case is fairly straight forward as far as motive and suspect, but there are a few complications. The local branch of the Yakuza is gaining money through illegal dumping of chemicals into the ri… Into you. Chihiro-san discovered this and attempted to stop it. Would I be correct in saying that she had been receiving threats?” 

”Possibly.” Kohaku concurred, long whiskers flickering. “She had been… nervous, as of late.” No around her house then, Saguru would bet. If they had, Kohaku wouldn’t need him, the river would already know who was after his bride. The dragon probably had less influence away from the water. 

”When the threats didn’t work, violence was resorted to.” Saguru shrugged. “I am uncertain if the weapon was supposed to be a deterrent or if they meant to kill her. Either way, the result is the same.” A bullet in the gut. 

”Do you know who did this to her?” Kohaku’s voice was a growl of barely suppressed violence. When the dragon got whomever attacked his bride in his sights, Saguru doubted it would be pretty. A part of him rebelled at the thought of killing anyone rather than bringing them to the courts and justice, but he also realised what he would do if it was Kaito. 

And he was dealing with rules and laws that were not human. An eye for an eye. 

”I have narrowed it down.” Saguru said honestly. “However, I have cause to believe that they will attempt to try again, now that it is known she is alive, and most likely be able to recognise them.” 

The bristles on the long serpentine body rose, making the skinny body look larger. 

”The easiest solution would be to bring her to you.” Kaito said quietly. “We can do that, but that will raise more questions. If she’s to still live in this world, more questions will cause problems. There is already speculation over where she has been for the past two months, especially in such good health.”

Kohaku let out a low growl again. From the stories, dragons were notoriously possessive, her being this far away from him was probably driving Kohaku crazy. Especially since she was injured and he was obviously tied to the water. 

”Can you take something to her?” Kohaku almost demanded. 

Saguru looked at Kaito, who shrugged. “Sure.” Kaito agreed. “But it’ll be a favour to me instead of ‘Guru though. We’re not allowed in either and the hospital’s got too much metal and electrical stuff for me to move things easily.” 

And he’d already done so earlier today, probably pushing his limits. Saguru had noticed that the farther away from the Red House they were, the harder it was for Kaito to do his magic. 

The dragon looked at Kaito with what looked like amusement. “Done.” 

He reached back into the water, pulling out what looked like a crystal vase, with a single perfect pink lotus floating serenely on top. Kaito took it from the dragon, then started trembling. 

”You’d better take this, ‘Guru.” He squeaked and Saguru stepped forward to take the vase away from his partner. He peered into the crystal, noting the chips on the top that meant it had probably been thrown as refuse into the river, then spotted the tiny fish and tadpoles that darted around the lotus’ roots. 

”Got it.” He smiled to himself. 

”Sorry.” Kaito looked nervously up at the dragon. “Like water, like being in the water, but I just….” He shuddered. “f-f-Fish.”

Kohaku shrugged, a long serpentine movement that sent a ripple throughout his long body. 

”We’ll deliver it to her tonight.” Saguru promised the dragon, tucking the vase securely against his side. A gift from a river god, a truly precious thing. 

Kaito nodded. “Oh! One last thing.” He pulled a folded piece of paper from his back pocket and held it up for the dragon to see. “Congratulations.” 

Kohaku twisted his head to the side, peering at the paper. “What is it?”

”The hospital is worried that she was sexually assaulted.” Kaito smiled. “But they got the timeline wrong, because you held her in stasis until mortal help could be found. She was a few months pregnant when she was shot.” 

Saguru had never seen a dumbstruck dragon before. Granted, he’d never seen a dragon before, but he had a feeling that a dumbstruck one was a sight that he’d very rarely, if ever see again. 

Kaito pointed to a picture at the top. “They can’t tell from the photo yet, but its twins.” He grinned broadly. “And as far as I can tell, they’re both extremely healthy. Probably from all the energy Dad was giving Mom.” 

”Congratulations.” Saguru added with a grin of his own. Dragon babies. He hoped he got to see them when they were born. Would they look human, or would they have scales?

”Sen….” Kohaku whispered, his body twitching in nervous excitement as if he wanted to fly to her side right this moment.

”Don’t worry, Daddy.” Kaito grinned at the dragon. “She’ll be back to you before you know it.”

+++

Chihiro was blurrily awake when they snuck in, vase in Saguru’s arms. “Who?” She stared at them in a bit of sleepy alarm. 

”Kohaku sent us.” Kaito assured her as Saguru set the vase down next to her head. “He wanted to make sure you were alright.”

The slow smile that spread across her face was incandescent in its joy. Chihiro was pretty enough before, but she was gorgeous when she smiled. Saguru got the impression that she only smiled like that for Kohaku, her love shining through. 

She turned to look at the vase, pressing her fingers against the cool crystal. The tiny fish and tadpoles swarmed towards her, bumping the glass as if trying to reach her. “Haku.” She whispered. “Thank you.”

From the corner of his eye, Saguru swore he saw the dragon’s reflection in the water, then it was gone. 

”I’m afraid I kind of spoiled the surprise.” Kaito admitted sheepishly. “Congratulations on the twins.” 

”Oh!” She turned looked at her stomach, resting her hands over it protectively, a sweet smile on her face. “I wasn’t sure. I thought I might be pregnant, but I didn’t want to get our hopes up just yet.” 

”They’re healthy.” Kaito assured her, leaning down to rest his forehead against hers. “Rest now, you’ll see him soon. He’s worried about you.”

She hummed in response, her eyes drifting shut, the sweet smile still on her face. 

Kaito glanced over at Saguru and shrugged. “Sleep’s the best thing for her right now.” He whispered. “Anyway, our job is done. You found out who did it, reported it to the employer, she’s protected, it’s time for us to head home too.” 

Yes, to homework and quiet disdain at his father’s house. Saguru huffed to himself, holding out a hand. Kaito gave him a sad smile, taking Saguru’s hand and giving it a squeeze. He was grateful that Kaito didn’t say anything as they stepped out of the hospital door and reappeared on the street. 

Kaito didn’t let go of Saguru’s hand until they parted at the front gate of Saguru’s house. 

+++

It was all wrapped up two days later, when he sat down to dinner with Baaya and Father. 

A police officer and a known yakuza member were found dead inside of Chihiro’s room, their lungs full of river water, despite the only water in the room being the full vase next to Chihiro’s bedside. Chihiro had been in a sedated sleep at the time, unable to explain what happened. 

She did however, recognise the men as some of the ones who had been threatening her if she exposed what was going on with the chemical dumping. The police officer was fairly high ranking, and had been able to apply pressure behind the scenes to call off the hunt for her then-missing body. 

Said officer also had a lot of unaccounted for funds in his bank account, on the payroll of the yakuza. Investigation was on-going as to who else was involved. Public outcry was demanding an inquiry into it and the shutting down of the plant. 

Kaito reported that Kohaku was pleased with the result, if a little anxious to see his bride again. Saguru’s mind boggled as he realised that he was owed a favour from a river god. 

… His life was really strange sometimes. Not in a bad way, just strange. 

Saguru’s Father was not nearly as pleased with the result, having a scandal on his hands to deal with. Illegal dumping of environmentally hazardous chemicals covered up by one of his officers reflected poorly on the entire Police Force. 

Which meant that Father was in a fine temper as they sat down to eat. He wasn’t pleased that Saguru wasn’t sure he’d done as well on the test he’d had that afternoon as he would have liked, having spent a day that he probably should have utilised studying with running around discovering who tried to kill Chihiro. 

Father wasn’t pleased that Saguru hadn’t been volunteering his time helping various police solve crimes. 

And Father certainly wasn’t happy that Kaito had walked Saguru home earlier in the week, which meant that Saguru was still seeing the thief.

He’d just started going off on how Saguru should be more like the boys who pulled Chihiro out of a river when Saguru felt his temper snap, seeing the threads of how the conversation would go clearly before him, like moves on a chessboard. He could tell Father that he was the one to do so, to get a lecture on if he could help random people, he could help the police. Explaining that he was the one to discover who had thrown her in the river in the first place would result in the same, especially since he -hadn’t- told the police. 

Staying quiet was the best route, which meant listening to vitriol spilling Father and Baaya’s lips about Kaito. Nothing he could say or do would change their minds. The only reason he stayed was from a sense of duty and obligation, neither of which would earn him anything except for continued hatred. 

He wondered if Chihiro’s parents knew that she was in love with a dragon, and if so, how they felt about it. If they would accept it or not. 

And realised that it probably didn’t matter how her parents felt about it. Not to Chihiro or Kohaku. 

”I’m done.” He said, pushing himself away from the table. “Thank you for the meal.” He said, picking up his half-eaten meal to take to the kitchen. He’d lost his appetite.  
“Dammit, get back here Saguru!” Father shouted. “As long as you live under my roof, you’ll abide by my rules! Do you understand?!”

”Yes.” Saguru agreed, then left the room, a detached sense of calm falling over him. He set his plate down next to the sink, then turned and headed upstairs to his room. 

It was a matter of minutes, packing up his schoolwork and the last of his clothing. It was somewhat disparaging, realising just how little he really had here. Backpack over his shoulders and suitcase rolling behind him, he went back downstairs, retrieved his coat from the closet and stepped out the front door. 

He doubted they realised that he’d already moved out ages ago, it’d just taken him a while to follow. 

Saguru took the long route to the subway station, buying his ticket in silence, ignoring the looks of the people around him, at his suitcase. The train was right on time, showing up a few minutes later and he got on, staring at nothing as the train whisked him through the Metropolitan area, depositing him a few blocks away from the Red House. 

The gate opened quietly at his touch, the rose bushes appearing to part before him, not trying to snag on his clothing like they usually did. He stopped at the front door and knocked, despite the fact that he’d had a key for months. 

A minute later, Kaito opened the door, a confused look on his face as he saw it was Saguru. Kaito’s eyes flickered at Saguru’s face, then down at the suitcase, recognition flickering across his face. Saguru opened his mouth to explain, then was cut off as Kaito held the door open wider, encouraging Saguru inside. 

”Welcome home.” Was all Kaito said. 

Saguru swallowed the lump in his throat as he stepped over the threshold of La Maison Rouge.

”I’m home.” 

+++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crossover with Inuyasha (Shouta is Kagome's little brother) and Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi, aka Spirited Away, because I always wanted to see Sen and Haku have a happy ending. ^^;;


	14. Letters

+++

"Oh, dear." Kaito stared at the letter he'd gotten in mild discomfort and some horror. 

"What?" Saguru peered over his shoulder. "Oh! You got a letter from Uncle Dorian." 

"I sent him a notice." Kaito explained, turning the paper over to see if there was anything on the back. There wasn't. That wasn't entirely reassuring.

"A -Heist- Notice?!" Saguru's voice went up slightly towards the end. 

"Yeah."

There was a touch of hysteria in the detective's voice. After all, it wasn't every day that an International Jewel Thief sent an International Art Thief a warning notice. Especially when the International Jewel Thief was retired and not supposed to be sending notices. "For WHAT?!"

Kaito looked up at the panicking blond. "You." 

Saguru stared back for a long moment. Then he squeaked. Kaito was pretty sure that was supposed to be a question of some sort, but it came out as a squeak instead. It was kind of endearing, really.

"Two reasons." Kaito explained, re-reading the letter in hopes that the words had somehow changed. Which they hadn't. "One, Professional courtesy." 

Saguru's Uncle Dorian, otherwise known as the infamous flamboyant art thief Eroica, was also the head of Saguru's household. So therefore, to date Saguru and as one thief to another, it was only proper to declare his intentions. Which, being the polite and proper Kaitou that he was, he did. Signed with the Kid caricature and everything. 

"And the other?" Saguru questioned, his voice still an octave above his usual range in panic.

"Amusement factor." 

"Of course." Saguru pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed as if he should have known. Which, really, he should have. "So what did Uncle Eroica say?"

"Pretty much that he's all right with me stealing you as long as you're all right with it." Kaito said mildly, checking the back of the letter again, then holding it up to the light to see if there were any secret messages on the paper. There weren't. "And to send a more detailed description of just what I plan to do with you. And if possible, to send artistically tasteful photos." 

Saguru blanched. "Well, that explains Uncle Klaus' footnote on the latest letter."

"Oh?" Kaito inquired, leaning back against the blond as he tried to look at the letter Saguru was holding. 

"He's requesting that we do -not- send any sort of photograph to them in the near future." Saguru deadpanned. "-Which I did have to wonder about."

"And?" Kaito asked, able to see there was more to the postscript, but not able to read it. 

Saguru lifted the letter and cleared his throat. "Welcome to the family." 

Kaito stared. Saguru moved the letter so Kaito could read it, pointing to the bottom postscript. That's what it read, Welcome to the Family.

"Y'know..." Kaito said thoughtfully. "I'm not sure which disturbs me more. Uncle Eroica or Uncle Klaus."

One of the blond's eyebrows rose as he made a mild face. After all, Saguru was related to them by blood. "Indeed." 

+++


	15. Tied Up

“Thank you for dropping these off.” Saguru said, juggling the books Aoko had just returned in one hand, the press of his arm keeping his hastily tied bathrobe closed around him. ”But I’m afraid I cannot stay and chat, I have Kaito tied to the bed upstairs.”

Aoko laughed, free and cheerful as she tapped his arm. “You silly goof.” She shook her head, clearly disbelieving him. “Go. Tell him I said ‘Hi’. I’ll see you both later!” She gave him a wave and walked back down the path leading to the entrance to the property, smiling at the roses that seemed to turn to follow her.

Saguru watched her go with a pleasant smile on his face until she stepped past the gate and onto the sidewalk. Then he shut the door in a hurry and raced back upstairs.

The entrance to their living quarters was on the first story for once, the door opening inward at his touch instead of sliding to the side. He stepped inside to discover that he’d managed to miss their kitchen and living room entirely, stepping directly into their bedroom.

Someone was impatient for his return.

Kaito glared at him from the bed, completely naked, wrists still cuffed to the solid headboard. dark dripping erection straining upwards. “I hate you.” Saguru’s lover said with dark emotion.

Saguru raised an eyebrow, setting the books down at the foot of the bed. “You didn’t even try to get your hands free.” They both knew the extent of Kaito’s skills, he could have been out of the trick handcuffs with a minimum of fuss if he’d wished to be free.

Ergo, he did not wish it.

Kaito growled, low and impatient, jerking his hips up. His legs were spread, allowing Saguru to catch a glimpse of the dark purple toy they’d been playing with before they’d been interrupted by Aoko at the door, still buried inside of him.

“Aoko says hello.” Saguru said, sliding the rope off his shoulders and hanging it on the hook by the door. Seeing as he wasn’t wearing anything under it, he was fortunate the sloppy knot had stayed shut or Aoko would have gotten quite the eyeful. “I told her you were tied up at the moment.”

“You’ve got them all fooled.” Kaito grumbled, glaring at Saguru as if he could make Saguru hurry up with his thoughts alone as Saguru slowly climbed onto the bed and crawled over. “Everyone thinks you’re all nice and polite, when in reality you’re really a sarcastic asshole.”

“Oh, really?” Saguru lightly and possessively traced a fingertip down the curve of Kaito’s dripping shaft, feeling his lover twitch at the contact.

Kaito gasped, mouthing strangled obscenities, eyes dark with lust, argument momentarily forgotten.

There was not a chance he would have invited Aoko up, to accidentally stumble onto this. He and Kaito had to share each other with the rest of the world. There were crimes to solve, people to help, and constant demands on their time. 

This however, this Saguru refused to share. Sex stupid, wanton Kaito, tied to the bed and whining in impatience was his and his alone. 

And for that, he would gladly be a bastard and take his time. 

“You were saying?” Saguru smirked, settling himself more comfortably between Kaito’s spread legs.

He got a hazy, lust addled look in return. 

“... Huh?”

-fin-

**Author's Note:**

> There was much more for this series that never got written. You can see some of it here: <https://ickaimp.tumblr.com/post/126405433410/so-im-going-through-some-old-thumbdrives-and>


End file.
